Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CONT
ENTS
Editor's
Introduction
Introduction
1. History
of Research
2. Excavations
5. Chronology,
6. Cultural
Beliefs
and Social
Population
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Rel ationships
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Position
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Rela t ions
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References
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25
68
of the Burial
and Historical
7. The Neolithic
Cemeteries
Cemet er y
4. General Characteristics
'Neolithic
3. The Nikolskoye
GENERAL EDITORS
tage by
i i i
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
The cemeteries
of the Dnieper basin are among the largest
Neolithic
of
cemeteries
in Europe. This work offers a full s4rvey and analysis
both the cemeteries and the physical anthropology of those buried. The
authors first
treat the history of research and then examine in detail
some of the best preserved and most important of the cemeteries,
the
grave goods found within
them,
the problems of their
relative
chronology,
absolute
date,
cultural
affiliation
and the physical
composition of their population.
Finally,
both authors evaluate
the
role of the culture
and the physical type (Proto-Europoid
Cro-Magnon)
in the broadest perspective
of Eurasian prehistory.
These cemeteries of the Mariupol type (named after the famous site of
Mariupol which was situated
in the southern Ukraine just north of the
Sea of Azov) are attributed
to the Dnieper-Donets culture.
Although the
authors refer to this culture
extensively
in the text, a very brief
summary description
of this culture (even if unfashionably
'normative')
seems to the editor to be necessary,
especially
with regard to its nonmortuary aspects.
The Dnieper-Donets
culture is known from approximately
200 sites in
the Ukraine and Byelorussia.
These sites are principally
located along
the course of the Dnieper and some of its tributaries,
the northern
Donets and the Pripet.
According to Dr. Telegin,
the culture can be
divided into three major periods.
Period I
The earliest
period sees settlement
primarily
confined to the Middle
Dnieper basin and the northern Donets. It is characterized
by primitive
pointed based pottery and a lithic
industry
dominated by microlithic
forms; flake axes were also utilized.
The roots of the lithic
industry
lie very much in the later Mesolithic.
Cemeteries from this period are
very poorly known. Possibly
the burial at Igren 8, discussed
by Dr.
Telegin in the first chapter,
belongs to this period. Radiocarbon dates
and imports from the next period indicate
that Period I precedes c.
4500 Cal. BC.
Period II
The Middle period witnesses
a major expansion of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
in all
directions
and the subsequent
formation
of local
regional variants.
The role of microliths
diminish in the composition
of the lithic
assemblages and polished stone axes begin to appear. Some
regional
variants
are typified
by the manufacture
of flat-based
vessels.
This period marks the rise of cemeteries of the Mariupol type,
especially
in the the Nadporozhe-Azov variant,
with their attendant
grave goods of deer and fish teeth, plates manufactured from boar tusk
enamel, stone maceheads and occasional
ornaments of copper and gold.
Both radiocarbon dates and ceramic imports from the well-dated Tripolye
culture suggest that Period II flourished
c. 4500 - 3600 Cal. BC.
Period III
The Late period sees
southern Ukraine and
Byelorussia.
Tripolye
which would place it
northern region until
a collapse
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
in the
its restriction
to the area north of Kiev and
C-1 ceramics have been uncovered from Pustynka 5
c. 3500 Cal. BC. The culture
continues
in the
the Bronze Age.
The majority
of Dnieper-Donets
sit~s are se~tl~ments
or. camp sit~s
offering
surface
scatters
of ceramic
and lithic
m~terial.
It is
difficult
to assess their total sizes although excavations
have ranged
up to nearly 2000 square metres. The settlements
are p~imarily situat~d
on the lower river terraces,
near lakes or even on islands.
Onl_y in
rare situations
have cemeteries
been discovered
in obvious and direct
association
with the Neolithic
settlements;
in general,
the cemeteries
are found in the high loess terraces.
The remains of settlement
architecture
are quite
poor given the
abundance of mortuary remains (over 800 burials).
While a number of
few have yielded other. structural
settlements
have produced hearths,
features.
At the site of Vita Litovskaya a small hut measuring 2 x 2.~
m. with a hearth in the centre was uncovered while the site of Sosonki
produced remains of a rectangular
hut 3.4 x 3-2.4 m. in size and sunk
c. 20-30 cm. into the soil.
The late site of Pustynka 5 produced a
number of pits, and a surface dwelling 3.2 x 1.5 m. in size.
In general,
the industrial
technology
begins with mi_croliths . (both
assymetrical
and symmetrical trapezes)
which gradually
disappear in the
later
phases when they are replaced
by la~ger flint
imp_lements. The
quality of local flint
resources
in many regions was restricted
and the
overall
size of tools was not very large except in areas such as the
northern
Donets which had access to better
flint
sources.
Flake axes
gradually
yield to ground stone. An assortment
~f spears and arrowheads
some
are also known from Period II. Scrapers and knives are abundant,
of the latter
possibly
serving
as sickle
blad~s.
Bone was_ u~ed for
arrowheads,
harpoons,
fish-hooks
and awls. Net sinkers for fishing are
also known.
Of especial
importance
in understanding
the structure
of DnieperDonets society
are its
economic remains.
Agriculture
is not well
attested,
however, impressions
of charred barley were recovered from a
sherd from the site of Vita Litovskaya.
Faunal remains are known from
several settlements
and these are listed
in full below:
Igren
N
Cattle
Sheep/Goat
Pig
Horse
Dog
Aurochs
Elk
Red Deer
Roe Deer
Wild Pig
Onager
Fox
Wild Cat
Rabbit
Beaver
Birds
Fish
Tortoise
Molluscs
MNI
+
MN!
56
5
8
23
38
9
2
3
4
3
1
1
8
12
1
1
1
16
12
54
10
48
93
11
3
2
3
1
1
11
4
21
18
4
5
3
1
3
1
4
2
12
2
Buzky
Sredny Stog I
Sobachky
N
MN!
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
2
N
42
3
MNI
3
1
1
1
16
28
27
1
3
4
4
2
5
34
14
1
126
22
l
8
18
With such
from the data.
Dnieper-Donets
with the full
The domestic
there are no
fauna ( unlike
horse in the
dating to the
Sredny Stag I
more northerly
In evaluating
the economic foundations
of the people who utilized
the
large cemeteries
in the Nadporozhe, Dr. Telegin . especially
emphasizes
fishing.
This area of the Dnieper basin is marked by an abundance of
rapids,
cascades,
and pools offering
unparalleled
opportunities
for
fishing
(indeed,
Telegin remarks that fish can be obtained from this
area without any devices whatsover).
Fish bones are marginally
attested
at a number of sites,
more likely because of the techniques
of recovery
rather than any paucity of actual remains. The primary catch appears to
have been the common carp, which may weigh up to 20 kg., and pearl
roach (Rutilus
frisii).
As the reader will see, fish teeth are one of
the primary grave goods in Dnieper-Donets
burials.
An examination
of
the fish tooth ornaments from the cemetery of Vovnigy revealed
that
they derived from 76 carp and 16 pearl roach.
In general,
the underlying
economic basis of the societies
producing
the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
was substantially
dependent on fishing.
As Dr. Telegin indicates,
there are substantial
Mesolithic
cemeteries
in precisely
the same region
as the later
Mariupol-type
burials.
Ethnographic
data suggests that fishing-based
economies is one of the
ma;t develop
both
few forms
of hunter-gather
subsistence
that
substantial
long term settlement
and territoriality.
With the latter
we
also
find
evidence
for warfare,
probably
associated
with fishing
rights,
which is indicated
in both the Mesolithic
and Neolithic
cemeteries
of the region.
Through what would appear to be a gradual
process
of acculturation,
stimulated
by their
western
agricultural
neighbours,
e.g. Cris, Bug-Dniester
and Linear Ware, the Dnieper-Donets
culture
adopted various forms of the productive
economy, at least
in
its more southerly
distribution.
The reasons for this are complex and
we still
have only the boldest
of hypotheses,
e.g.
lack of forest
resources
in
the
southern
steppe
area,
climatic
change
and
deforestation
of the riverine
areas through increased population,
etc.
The reader will be especially
interested
in the social implications
of these
changes,
especially
as they are reflected
in mortuary
practice.
This is a subject where the Dnieper basin offers us extensive
data to examine the major long term changes in social structure
from
primarily
hunting-gathering
(Mesolithic)
populations
through both SubNeolithic
and Neolithic
settlements
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
to
the later
Eneolithic
cemeteries
and burials
of the Sredny Stag and
Yamnaya cultures.
There have been few detailed
attempts to assess the
social
evolution
of society
through its mortuary practice
for this
particular
region.
The most active specialist
in this area has been M.
D. Klobystina
(1979) who has analyzed
some of the Mesolithic
and
Neolithic
cemeteries
along the Dnieper.
vi
vii
The Mesolithic
cemetery at Vasilyevka
1 yielded
the remains of 26
individuals
buried in the flexed position.
The burials were arranged in
both individual
graves
and groups,
the latter
predominating.
The
distribution
of the burials
according
to sex was 19 males, 3 females
(?) , 2 unsexed adults,
1 'youth'
and 1 child.
On the basis of her
analysis,
Khlobystina
observed that the cemetery reflected
a social
system that included sexual segregation
in mortuary ritual
accompanied
by age stratification
in that all of the males ranged from 25 to 60
years of age.
The somewhat later
Mesolithic
cemetery of Vasilyevka 3 yielded 45
burials
in all.
These consisted
of 16 males,
12 females,
4 unsexed
adults,
1 juvenile
and 12 children.
By this time certain
changes in the
social
system expressed
in the mortuary
ritual
could be observed.
Females were now regularly
included within the same cemetery as the
males although only one of the seven group burials
could be positively
determined as of mixed sex. Despite a full range of ages, the age group
from 12 to 25 years was absent
from the cemetery
suggesting
to
Khlobystina
that this
age-set
may have been socially
classified
as
beyond childhood
(children
were now buried in the cemetery)
but not
yet full adults.
The fact that children appeared to be buried with both
males and females suggested that kinship relations
were reckoned bilinearly,
at least in the final Mesolithic.
A
a
6
b
E
e
)!{
l'1
zh
I wish to thank
Emma Brown and Barrie
Hartwell,
Department
of
Archaeology,
Queen's University,
Belfast,
for assistance
in redrawing
and reproducing
a number of the illustrations;
Sinclair
Forrest,
Dep.
of Archaeology,
Queen's University,
for assisting
in the proofing
of
the text;
my wife Eimear for typing
the manuscript;
and Dmitry
Yakolevich and Ina Potekhina for both their hospitality
in Kiev and for
asking me to serve again as 'midwife'
to another important
work on
Ukrainian archaeology.
J.P.
Mallory
Department of Archaeology
Queen's University
Belfast,
Northern Ireland
The subsequent
Dnieper-Donets
culture,
as the reader
will
see,
retains
in some instances
archaic Mesolithic
traits
but also evidences
new social
groupings.
These are discussed
by Dr. Telegin
in his
treatment
of the relative
chronology
and social
structure
of the
Neolithic
cemeteries.
Finally,
one aspect that may have escaped archaeologists
previously
unfamiliar
with
the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
is
their
possible
relevance
to specialists
in the prehistory
of Atlantic
Europe. One
might imagine there
to be little
in common between the flat-grave
cemeteries
of the Ukraine and the megalithic
tombs that dot western
Europe from the Mediterranean
to southern Scandinavia.
Nevertheless,
in
both areas we are witnessing
two different
expressions
of collective
burial.
In both regions
we find individual
and collective
graves,
s-econdary burial,
sequential
burial
and the reuse of burial
vaults,
unceremonious
disposition
of previous
burials,
etc.
In a sense the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
are megalithic
tombs without megaliths.
They
stimulate
us to reconsider
the predominant mortuary remains of western
Europe from the perspective
of the actual burials
setting
aside for the
moment the edifices
in which they were deposited.
When one co nside rs
the arguments
and hypotheses
concerning
the Mesolithi c or1.g1.ns of
collective
and megalithic
burials
in western Europe, e.g. Te viec in
Brittany
or Carrowmore in Ireland,
then the Ukra i nia n e vi dence may
serve as a useful external
yardstick
for evaluating
the we st. Europ ean
evidence.
In editing
the text, I have retained
Cyrillic
lett e rs whe n they hav e
been used for identifying
excavation
units.
This was nece ssary heca use
many of the maps so identified
the units
and also beca use oL the
hopeless
confusion
of making simple alphabetic
substitut.ions,c.g.
'B'
is the third and not the second letter
of the Cyril..lic alphab( ~L. The
basic sequence that the reader will encounter
in this
text
is the
following:
viii
ix
INTRODUCTION
The famous site of Mariupol, the largest and richest Neolithic cemetery
in Eastern
Europe, was discovered
and excavated more than a half
century ago.
During
the past decades, the number of such monuments
known in the Ukraine has greatly increased.
Today approximately twenty
Neolithic
cemeteries
are known within the territorial
limits
of the
Ukrainian SSR and these have yielded many hundreds of burials.
The
overwhelming majority
of these cemeteries
are concentrated
in the
vicinity
of the Dnieper rapids.
These .include the sites
of Vovnigy,
Vasilyevka,
Nikolskoye,
Maryevka,
Chaply,
Vilnyanka,
Kapulovka,
Yasinovatka and also cemeteries at Sobachky, one in the region of the
Nenasytets rapids,
and on the Igren peninsula.
South of the Dnieper
rapids some cemeteries are known at such sites at Lysaya Gora and Kairy
while similar sites have also been discovered and examined in the more
northerly
territory
of the Dnieper basin. These include the cemeteries
of Derei vka near Kremenchug and Osipovka on the river Orel. Similar
cemeteries
and groups of burials
are also known in areas adjacent to
the Ukraine such as Dolinka in the Crimean steppe and Alexandria on the
river
Oskol.
Finally,
it
is
probable
that
a cemetery
near
Nizhneterskaya
station on the Lower Don was destroyed at the end of the
last century when a railway was built across the river Chyr (Yakovlev
1901).
of all
basin.
Chapter 1
Moreover, a comprehensive summary of the Neolithic burial rite in this
region as well as a resolution
of the problems of chronology will be
attempted. The monuments will be divided into periods and according to
their local cultural
groupings. These cemeteries also provide the basic
data for determining the anthropological
composition of the Neolithic
population
in the Dnieper basin during the 5th ~nd 4th millennia
BC.
Consequently, an analysis of the physical remains is provided in order
to help clarify
the role of the late Cro-Magnon populations
of Eastern
Europe and adjacent regions.
The work was undertaken
at the Institute
of Archaeology of the
Ukrainian Academy of Science (Kiev) on the basis of material
stored
there and also material housed in museums in Leningrad, Dnepropetrovsk
and other cities
of the Soviet Union. Chapters 1 through 6 and 9 were
written by D. Ya. Telegin
while chapters 7 and 8 w.ere written by I. D.
Potekhina.
HISTORYOF RESEARCH
The first
Neolithic burials and small cemeteries in the Dnieper valley
were discovered nearly concurrently
with the excavation of the famous
Mariupol cemetery (see Appendix 1).
These discoveries
were associated
with the surveys of the Dneprostroy expedition
in 1927-1929, however,
the larger cemeteries of the Mariupol type were mainly discovered only
in the post-war period.
Three sites in the vicinity
of the Dnieper rapids yielded
burials
during
the pre-war
years.
These comprised
the
Sobachky, Vinogradny island, and Igren peninsula.
Neolithic
sites
of
')
- -4
13
12
15.J.4
2 ....
-1 2
...
11111111
OL,.I ___
5 4
.__
__
_.f""
Fig.
The first
cemetery has already been thoroughly published by Rudynsky
(1956) and requires only summary treatment here. The cemetery took the
form of a large subrectangular
pit measuring 2 x 4 m. In it were
uncovered 31 skeletons
in various states
of preservation,
their heads
oriented
to the south. They had been deposited
in layers
(Fig. 3).
Fourteen
of the burials
had grave goods although
these were not
abundant and rather similar.
They included pendants of immature teeth
of deer,
pharyngeal
Cyprinidae
teeth
which had probably
served as
decorations
on clothes,
and retouched flint
flakes
(Fig. 2, 1-5). In
the fill
of the cemetery, which had been covered with red ochre, there
was also found a globular
bone bead which had been perforated
(Fig.
2,22), which represents
a very rare find for the cemeteries
of this
type in the Dnieper basin.
In addition,
there were also found three
sherds with stroked ornamentation
(Fig. 2, 6,7). These may be assigned
to the II-B stage of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
in the area of the
Dnieper rapids
(Telegin 1968, 73). A perfect
analogy to the globular
bead is known from the Mariupol
cemetery where such beads were
numerous.
The excavation
of the second Vovnigy cemetery,
the largest
in the
Dnieper rapids
region,
has only seen summary publication
(Rudynsky
1955). The cemetery included
130 burials
arranged
in three parallel
rows with the bodies deposited
in a number of different
layers (Fig.
4). With but a single exception,
all the dead were oriented with their
heads to the northwest
and about 70% of the skeletons
had been
sprinkled
with red ochre. Grave goods were found with about 30 burials.
5
,~
4
@}~
10
9
<
12
15
<
(Q)_O
13
14
::,
....
00
'<
16
(l
(1)
~
~
22
rt
(1)
.
'i
'<
21
Fig.
cemeterie s of
II from9t
(8,
' he15-20),
ceramics
an ornaments
.
Nenasytets
Flint tools'
21 . 22)' d Vovnigy
(24-28).
I
(1-7,
land
Vovnigy
( 10-14' 23 ) an d Vinogradny is
*l
f
$
':,
>,
1-t
Q)
Q)
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fi
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fft
I, I
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tftf
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8
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,..:::
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o--+-
t_~
,2~~IV
,,
~-~
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Fig.
Maryevka cemetery.
skeletons.
Flint
artifacts
(A-C) collected
near
IV
Fig.
XII
XI
1n
In the 1950's both near and downriver of the Dnieper rap~ds, another
group of large neolithic
cemeteries
was discovered
in the eroded banks
of the Kakhovka reservoir.
These included Vasilyevka II (excavated by
by D. Ya.
A. D. Stolyar
in 1953),
Vilnyanka
(excavated
in )955
Telegin),
Lysaya Gora (excavated
in 1959 by A. V. Bodyansky) and
Nikolskoe (excavated in 1959 and 1967 by D. Ya. Telegin).
situated
at a depth of 0.6 to 0.9 m. in the subsoil.
Within the ochred
area there were five burial pits of round (I,V) or elongated oval (IIIV) form and a large quantity
of other remains, especially
sherds as
well as human and animal bones. The skeletons
in the grave pits were
mainly in a ruined state.
Three of the pits (I-III)
contained only child remains: one skeleton
in grave No. I, three in No. II and 4 in No. III.
Pits IV and V
probably comprised a single
ossuary.
In the elongated
portion were
skeletons
in the extended position while in the annular pit there were
more than twenty human skulls. Both skulls and other bones in pits IV-V
were partially
burnt. Two other collections
of burnt human bones were
discovered in the area over pit III. Among these the skeletons of three
adults could be distinguished.
In addition to both the grave pits and
the accumulations
of burnt bone, there were also other skeletons in the
cemetery that had been deposited
directly
into the clay without any
trace of a grave pit. These were in the extended supine position with
only a few grave goods and no signs of ochre. A. V. Bodyansky regards
the burials lacking a grave pit to be the earliest
in the cemetery.
-~
Fig.
Vasilyevka
burials.
II.
Field
drawing of bracelets
12
...,
u
3
5
LU
-f-- -
.,. - ":it.:
..
10
11
/ -i
--
Fig.
LJ_J
1 /J
13
12
Fig.
-1-
15
1 C:
16
tools.
steppe territories
the Dnieper-Donets
4
2
01
001
6
01
11
10
Fi g . 10
12
13
14
J
15
Fig.
11
Kapulovka cemetery.
were related
culture.
to the Dnieper
rapids
Five further
cemeteries
of the Mariupol type were excavated in the
1960' s-70' s. One of them was situated
near the village
of Kapulovka,
Nikopol district,
Dnepropetrovsk
region,
on the Lower Dnieper and
excavated
in 1962. Two cemeteries
were in the Dnieper-rapids
region:
Vasilyevka V, excavated in 1967, and Yasinovatka which was investigated
in 1978. The remaining
two cemeteries
lay further
to the north:
Dereivka near the town of Kremenchug, excavated 1960-61, and Osipovka
on the Orel river which was examined in 1971-1973. O. G. Shaposhnikova
and A. V. Bodyansky (1970) excavated Kapulovka while all of the others
were excavated by the author.
Bodyansky discovered
the Kapulovka cemetery in the eroded bank of the
Kakhovka reservoir
in 1961. Twenty-five burials were excavated from the
loess
deposits
at a depth of about 1.2-1.3
m. Typical
of these
cemeteries,
the burials
were in the extended supine position,
arms at
the sides
with hands either
near or under the pelvis.
The burials
formed a single
row. Bodyansky indicated
that
prior
to the 1962
excavation
season about 40 burials,
aligned
in one or two rows, had
been destroyed
by fluvial
erosion.
The skeletons
lay close to one
another,
heads to the east.
Only one burial
(No. 1) was about 3. 7 m.
distant
from the others.
The legs of this individual
were bent slightly
at the knees (Fig. 11). The skeletons
generally
occurred in a single
layer though in some places they appeared to have been disturbed,
which
suggests that the cemetery was reused. As usual, there were only slight
traces of ochre. Grave goods were few: in two cases (Nos. 21, 22) there
were deer tooth pendants (Fig. 12, 5). A spearhead
made of horn was
found between the ribs of skeleton
No. 15.
Near the skull of skeleton
No. 1, a burial that was set apart from
the others,
there was an undamaged flat-based
pot, grey in colour, with
comb ornament over the neck (Shaposhnikova and Bodyansky 1970, fig. 3).
The vessel is typologically
similar
to the ceramics of the late stage
of the Sredny Stag culture
(see Telegin 1973, figs. 45, 3; 61, 1). In
1961 Bodyansky found another
vessel,
similar
to this one, near the
burial of a child which was located outside the area of the cemetery.
On the basis
of these two finds,
the authors
assigned
the entire
cemetery to the Eneolithic
period. This is hardly supportable
since the
single grave (No. 1) does not appear to be contemporary with the main
cemetery. While it probably does relate
to the Eneolithic
Sredny Stag
culture,
the rest of the burials
of the cemetery should be regarded as
Neolithic.
Derei vka is the largest
of the Mariupol type cemeteries
yielding
173 burials
(Telegin
and Zhilyaeva
1964; after
reports
published
in
1964, 1965 and 1967, an additional
19 Neolithic
burials
were uncovered
during the excavations
of the Dereivka settlement
site).
The cemetery
is located on the right bank of the Omelnik river as it discharges
into
the
Dnieper
near
the
village
of Dereivka,
Kremgress
district,
Kirovograd region.
This is the most northerly
cemetery of the Dnieper
valley of this type. It is situated
in the southern part of the Middle
Dnieper on the boundary between the forest-steppe
and the steppe.
The cemetery contains
both single
and group burials
100 metres along the bank of the Omelnik. The cemetery
16
17
extending
over
can be divided
jl:1
l.i
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ii'I, '
1
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I
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,1
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I
I
a
.
!I
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9
12
11
13
Fig.
12
14
15
16
()
18
19
'
17
18
+--i-t--m
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The large
size of the cemetery,
the variety
of orientations,
the
presence of both group graves and individual
buria l pits all point to
the long term use of the cemetery. The general impr ession is that the
cemetery was begun in the western part with a few single burials
(where
we also find the deer tooth pendants) and a group pi t. Then came the
large collective
burial
pit.
Later th e cemetery was used for the
occasional
single burial.
The rows of graves in the eastern part of the
cemetery were probably contemporary
with the large collective
bur ial
pit in the western part. The most recent burials shou l d have bee n those
single burials
with a south-western
or north-e a ster n orien tation . The
burial
in the sitting
position
(No. 41) was also probably fro m t his
most recent
period.
The similarity
of finds
from across
the site
suggest that the interval
between the earliest
and most recent buri als
was unlikely
to have been particularly
gr eat
At Dereivka we find that burial
in the sitting
position
was la ter
followed
by contracted
burials,
a fact
confirme d by stratigr ap hic
observations
(Telegin and Zhilyaeva 1964, 150).
r-4
Q)
M
Q)
A
C")
rl
In addition
to the extramural
cemeteries
of the Mariupol type, there
is also a considerable
number of burials
that have been disco ve red
within habitation
sites in the Dnieper valley.
Below we provide a brief
account of these additional
bur ial s beginning
first
with the Middle
Dnieper basin and then continuing
down the lower course of the river.
One burial was recovered during the 1958 excavatio ns of the Neo lit hic
settlement
at Buzky, Irklivsky
district,
Cherkass y region.
The bur ial
was discovered
in an oval grave pit beneath the cu l tura l layer. It was
in the extended sup i ne position and lightly
powdered with red ochre. No
grave goods were found ( Teleg in 1961).
While probing
the Dnieper-Donets
settlement
of Sivash near the
village
of Kamennye-Potoky, Kremenchug district,
Poltava
region,
the
author discovered a Neolithic
burial in sondage No. 4 . The body was in
the extended
supine pos iti on with head to the nort h-east.
Near the
skeleton a pharyngeal Cyprinidae tooth and a piece of ochre were f ound
(Telegin and Shmagliy 1959).
20
21
In 1954 workers
discovered
a burial
in the quarry
at SkelyKamenolomny near the village
of Voloshskoe,
Dnepropetrovsk
district,
Dnepropetrovsk region. The skeleton was in the extended supi ne position
and accompanied by pharyngeal Cyprinidae teeth. According t o the quarr y
workers, no less than seven similar
burials
had been destroyed
there
during the course of quarry operations
(Bodyansky 1954).
A.V. Bodyansky discovered a cemetery in 1952 on the Popov promontory
at the site of Podkovka, opposite the village
of Staraya Igren in the
present
territory
of Dnepropetrovsk.
The burials
had been in the
extended supine position
but had been completely
eroded away. Mixed
with the bones were a dozen sherds of Early Dnieper-Donets
pottery with
comb and linear decoration,
and also a number of microlithic
artifacts.
In the 1970's, also in the area of the Popov ravine,
V. I. Privalov
unearthed the remains of two burials
of probable Neolithic
date which
were eroding out close to one another.
In 1946 A. V. Bodyansky examined a Neolithic
burial on Sursky island
near the village
of Voloshskoye, Dnepropetrovsk
district.
It was close
to a cairn (No. IV) und er which a number of burials of later times were
found. The Neolithic
grave (No. 4) was under a layer of shells.
The
deceased had been deposited
in a grave pit whose outline could not be
traced.
The body had been in the extended supine position with head to
the north-east,
shoulders
tightly
contracted,
arms at sides,
hands on
pelvic bones and legs straightened.
''
'\
discovered
a paired burial on the left slope of the
upstream from the Neolithic
settlement
at Sobachky
near the village
of Privolnoye,
Verkhne-Khortitsk
region.
??
Fig.
14 Mariupol-type
cemeteries
(A) and individua l bur ials (B) in the
Dnieper valley and adjacent territories:
1. Kozintsy;
2. Buzky; 3. Kamenny Potoky; 4. Dereivka ; 5. Osipovka;
6. Zasukha; 7. Igren; 8. Chaply ; 9. islan d sites of Sursk y ,
Lokhansky and Skelya Kamenolomnya; 10. Vasi lyevka I I;
Vasily evka V; 12 . Maryevka; 13 . Nikolskoye;
14 . Nenas ytets ;
15. Klaguza; 16. Vovni gy I; 17 . Vovnigy II; 18 . Yasinovatka;
19. Vinogradny isla nd; 20. Vilnya nka; 21 . Sobachky;
22. Kapulovk a; 23. Zmeevka; 24 . Kair y ; 25 . Alexandria;
26. Mariupol; 27. Dolinka; 28 . Gospitaln y Kholm.
23
During a_su:vey
in 1957, the author and A.V. Bodyansky excavated a
large Neolithic
cemetery near Kairy village,
Gornostaeyvka
district
Kherson region. It was situated
about 200 m. north of the mouth of th;
ravine.
Here,
in the eroded
bank of the Kakhovka
Novosel?vskaya
re~ervoir,
we observed a large area measuring from 2.5 to 8 m. in size
which was stained with pieces of red ochre that appeared on the surface
?f ~h~ loam as a result
of water erosion.
In the saturated
clay several
individual
human bones were uncovered sprinkled
with red ochre. In some
places well preserved
skeletons
in the extended supine position
were
also_found.
In addition,
three skulls were found barely visible
in the
eroding
clay.
In the immediate
vicinity
of this
concentration
of
skeletons,
a small cairn (1 x 1.5 m.) was found covering ochred human
bone~ U_nfortunat~ly,
the high water table prevented a more thorough
examination of this cemetery during the survey and the entire cemetery
was washed away in the next year.
These comprise the approximately
30 sites in the Dnieper basin (Fig.
14) where both Neolithic
cemeteries
and individual
burials
have been
reco~ered.
In ~he next two chapters,
more detailed
descriptions
will be
pro~ided of five of the cemeteries:
Vilnyanka,
Vasilyevka,
Osipovka,
Yasinovatka and Nikolskoye.
Chapter
EXCAVATIONS
AT VILNYANKA,VASILYEVKA
V, OSIPOVKAANDYASINOVATKA
The author
excavated
Neolithic
cemeteries
at
Vilnyanka
( 1956),
Vasilyevka
V (1967), Osipovka (1971-73) and Yasinovatka
(1978). Among
the
Neolithic
cemeteries
of
the
Dnieper
basin
these
are
all
comparatively
large
and fundamental
to our understanding
of the
cultural
development of this region.
Vilnyanka Cemetery
The cemetery of Vilnyanka is situated
on the left bank of the Dnieper
(the Lenin Lake), about four to five kilometres
north of Zaporozhe,
somewhat downriver of the Vilny rapids,
and one kilometre
south of the
Vilnya ravine.
It was in 1928 that A. V. Dobrovolsky excavated the two
Neolithic
campsites
of Sobachky and Volchek which were located on the
opposite
bank of the Lenin Lake near the village
of Privolnoye
at the
mouth of the Gadyuchya ravine.
The Vilnyanka cemetery was discovered
by A. V. Bodyansky high in a
bank about 10-12 metres above the lake level.
The terrace
on which the
cemetery was situated
is about five metres higher than the bank and
gradually
levels
out into a plateau.
The location
differs
little
from
that
of the surrounding
territory.
This area of the bank forms a
watershed between the Vilnya ravine and the other ravines to the south.
The highest
point of this watershed
is defined
by a geodesic
mark
located
nearly opposite
the cemetery about 1 to 1.5 kilometres
away.
The absence of any surface indications
of the cemetery is typical
for
these monuments.
In the section of the bank, burials
could be seen extending for seven
at
to eight metres and ranging from 1. 2 to 2 metres in depth, either
the bottom of a layer of black soil or on top of a bed of loess some 10
metres thick.
Opposite the exposure of the burials
we excavated an area of about 84
about 1 to 1.5 metres wide
square metres. We also excavated two strips
and 6 metres long on both sides of the main excavation
area.
In
total,
we recovered
50 skeletons
in
various
degrees
of
preservation
(Fig. 15). Some of the skeletons
had been damaged through
erosion or collapse
of the bank while others had been damaged by later
interments
during the Neolithic,e.g.
Nos. 3, 18-a, 18-6, 18-s, 22-a,
26-a, 13-a, 11-a.
The majority
of the burials,
approximately
30, were adults.
T.S.
Surnina (1961) was able to ascertain
that 13 of the burials
were males,
10 were female, 16 skeletons
belonged to children
and 6 to adolescents.
The percentage
of child burials
in the cemetery was relatively
high; at
Mariupol only six child burials were recovered (Makarenko 1933, 169).
All the dead were buried in the extended supine position.
The arms
were slightly
bent at the elbows, hands near or on the pelvis,
legs
straight
and close together.
Many of the skeletons
(Nos. 1, 20, 29,
etc.)
were contracted
at the shoulders,
some quite severely.
In many
instances
one skeleton was overlain
by another.
24
25
48
58
.,.,
. 2M
68
78
67
77
65
75
8!J
14
l+.::c-----+.:.,,---
t-10
..-11-20.120
IT1ID
Ill
Fig.
15
62./;8 ...
e/V
GD
Y
OYI
Fig.
26
?.7
The stratigrahy
and differences
in the burial rites make it
to divide the burials in this cemetery into three chronological
possible
groups.
I\
I1
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/
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:, ~"
Iii II ~
I
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13
I \
11
,'
14
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.,
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i,
The 'grey'
grave pits were irregularly
arranged in the form of a
curved line (Fig.
15). In some instances,
a number of graves cut
earlier
ones. Thus, for example, in grave pit Al the i nsertion
of
burial
No. 19 damaged skeleton
9. It is probable that the cemeteu
functioned
over a long period and that surface
indications
of the
location of earlier
graves had become obscured.
A comparatively
large quantity of grave-goods was recovered from the
burials
of group 1. They consisted
primarily
of ornaments such as
pendants and fish teeth, and also various tools of bone and flint (Fig.
17). Deer tooth pendants, ranging in number from 2 to 17, accompanied
nine of the group I skeletons
(Nos. 7, 8, 17, 20, 29, 32, 36, 37, 40).
Fish teeth,
sometimes numbering in the dozens up to over a hundred,
were recovered from near 12 skeletons
of this group (Nos. 6, 15, 16,
20, 29, 31, 34, 35-37, 40, 41). In addition,
a Unio shel l lay by most
skeletons
(Nos. 7,8, 13, 15, 17, 29, 33, 38). A small Theodactus shell
was found near No. 38. The shell had been perfor ate d for suspension.
Flint artifacts
include four trapezes,
one of which had a flaked back
(Nos. 19, 29, 40), three scrapers near burials Nos. 38, 40; a number of
12
Fig.
17
16
18
of flint
knife-like
blades and flakes
and three artifacts
of bone: two awls
(Nos. 37, 39) and a point (No. 29). This latter
was relatively
massive
and well-polished
and it is not improbable that it served as a spearpoint (Fig. 17,10).
The second group of burials at Vilnyanka included 13 skeletons
that
had been deposited in three rectangular
grave pits. One of the pits was
well preserved (61), but the other two had been severely eroded (
62,
63). The skeletons,
as a rule, were entirely
covered with red ochre.
61, three well-preserved
(Nos. 14, 27, 28) and two
In grave pit
partly
preserved
(13a, 27a) skeletons
were uncovered.
Grave pit 6 2
yielded one well-preserved
skeleton
(No. 18) and the remains of four
6 3 were two well-preserved
other
skeletons
(Nos, 18a- A). In pit
skeletons
(Nos. 10, 12) and the remains of Nos. 10a, 11 and 12a. The
outlines
of these grave pits were first
discerned
at a depth of about
0,74 metres in the middle of the black soil layer and then followed
down to a depth of 1.5 to 1.6 metres, The well-preserved
grave pit 6 1
measured 2 x 2 metres and had steep walls inclined
slightly
towards the
inside
at the bottom. Both the size of the pits and their
regular
outline
suggests
that
they were intended
to be used repeatedly,
However, the bottoms of the pits were not level and there were hollows
provided for some of the lower burials.
In some cases (Nos. 27, 28),
niches had been cut into the bottom of the pit to accommodate the head
and legs of the deceased.
Each of these rectangular
grave pits was probably intended
as a
collective
domestic tomb, Thus, for example, grave pit 63 contained the
remains of two adults and three children
and adolescents.
One of the
skeletons
of an adolescent
(No. 12) was found close to an adult (No.
11) as if it were being supported by the hand of the latter.
The distinguishing
feature of the group II burials
is the damage done
to earlier
burials
by later interments.
With reusable
grave pits,
the
earlier
skeletons
were partly
exhumed and then redeposited
on top of
subsequent burials.
For example, skeleton No. 18 in pit 62 was entirely
buried in human bones, including
four skulls.
Many individual
bones
were also found near burials
14, 27 and 28. In this respect,
the group
2 burials at Vovnigy resemble the situation
at Mariupol.
All the burials
of group II were oriented
with heads to the north.
Some of them were accompanied by finds such as pendants of deer teeth
(Nos. 14, 18, 28) and fish teeth (Nos. 10, 12, 14). In three instances
an Unio shell was found near the skeletons
(Nos. 10, 18, 28). In burial
27, two shells were found. A backed trapeze was found near skeleton No.
10 and a knife-like
blade near burial 14 (Fig. 17).
The third
group of burials
at Vilnyanka included
eight skeletons
(Nos, 1,2,4,5,21,22,22a,23).
These had been deposited from the level of
the black soil,
about 1.3 metres below the present surface level.
The
deceased were oriented
to the south (Nos. 1,2,21,22,22a,23)
or to the
north (Nos. 4,5). The graves were arranged in two rows and spaced at
considerable
intervals
from one another.
These burials,
as all others
in the cemetery, were in the supine extended position,
arms at sides,
hands near the pelvis.
In some cases (Nos. 2,5), the arms were bent at
the elbows and the legs were straightened,
No outline of the grave pits
could be traced.
were no finds.
Some of the
skeletons
showed traces
of ochre.
There
skull
of a child
c. 8 to 14 years.
No. 4. Burial of a 50-60 year old female, head oriented to the N with
face directed
west toward the river.
Extended supine position,
legs and
feet straight
along the axis of the spine, arms at sides and close to
the trunk, hands under pelvis,
head drawn in slightly.
No. 5. Burial of
face to the river.
together.
The right
was bent slightly
pelvis.
to one
supine
to No. 8 while
the
No. 7. Burial of a
deceased was probably
Among the lower ribs
Three pendants of deer
No. 8. Burial of a 25-30 year old male with head to the NE. Extended
supine position,
arms at side, hands in centre of pelvis,
legs straight
and drawn slightly
together at the knees. No trace of ochre. Near the
pelvis lay an Unio shell while in the area of the abdomen were three
deer tooth pendants.
No. 9. Burial of a 25-30 year old female. Extended supine position,
oriented
to the NE. Arms were slightly
bent at the elbows, hands in
centre of pelvis,
legs extended. The skeleton was damaged, most likely
by the digging of the grave pit for No. 19. Between the ribs on the
left
side a deer tooth pendant and a number of fish teeth were
recovered.
Nos. 10, 10-a, 11, 12, 12-a. These constituted
a group burial in the
rectangular
pit 63, which was partly destroyed by erosion.
Burial No.
10-a had been the first
deposited followed by Nos. 10, 11 and 12, and
over the latter was the infant burial No. 12-a. Skeletons 10, 11 and 12
were all oriented
with heads to the N. The other burials
were badly
damaged.
No. 10. Burial of a 20-25 year old male. Extended supine position,
hands in centre of pelvis,
legs straight
and drawn close at the knees,
feet close together,
heavily ochred.
Near the right half of the pelvis
a backed trapeze was found. On the right femur lay a fragment of a
knife-like
blade. Below the pelvis were 52 Cyprinidae teeth. Under No.
10 and near the right humerus were the remains of a 10-12 year old
child (No. 10-a).
No. 11. Burial
of a partly
preserved
adult,
ochred.
No. 12. Burial of a 12-13 year old child. Extended supine position,
arms at side and closely drawn against the trunk, hands on pelvis, legs
slightly
bent to the right and closed together,
ochred. Between the
femurs lay a pile of Cyprinidae teeth. Nearby were the poorly preserved
remains of a child (No. 12).
No.13. Burial of a 40 to 45-year female in the supine position
immediately below the bottom of the rectangular
grave pit 6 1. It was
probably related to the group grave in the oval pit A4. The head was
orientated
to the SW and faced the left side.
Arms straightened
and
pressed closely to the trunk, hands under the pelvis.
One Unio shell
was found.
No.13-a.
Burial
of a 13 to 17-year
old adolescent.
Badly damaged.
pendants
pendants
Altogether,
there
were
31
SSE,
legs
Nos.22 and 22-a. Burial No.22 was of a 8 to 12-year old child lain in
a supine position
with head to the S.
Arms at side, hands on the
pelvis,
legs straightened.
Directly
on the skull of skeleton 22 lay
another skull (22-a) but with no other bones.
No. 23. Remains of a child skeleton
the S, arms at side, legs extended.
of about
four
S.
years
oriented
to
but at different
Near the right shoulder lay an Anadonta shell. Near the right elbow was
a small perforated
spiral shell. A pile of splintered
cattle and human
bones including
fragments of a human skull was found between the
femurs.
A considerable
portion
of cattle
bones showed traces
of
burning. A small scraper was also found (Fig. 17, 4).
No. 39. Burial of a 25 to 30-year old male lying on skeleton No. 40
and oriented to the SSW. Extended supine position,
arms at side, hands
near the pelvis, legs straightened,
shoulders slightly
contracted.
Near
the left
shoulder,
a bone awl was found (Fig. 17, 11). Slightly
coloured.
Nos. 40 and 41. Burial of a 40 to 45-year old male (No. 40) and of
an 8 to 10-year old child (No. 41). Burial No. 40 was under skeleton
No. 39. On the right arm of skeleton 40 lay the child's
skeleton. Both
were oriented to the S, extended supine position,
arms at side, hands
with palms down on the femurs, legs straightened
(Fig. 18, 2). Heavily
coloured. Along the spinal column of skeleton No. 40 lay pendants of
deer teeth (Fig. 17, 17) A row of fish teeth was found below the
pubis. At the bottom of the grave pit, near the feet of the skeleton,
lay a microlithic
scraper. Over the spinal column, on the right side of
the lumbar region, lay two trapezes (Fig. 17, 1,2).
It..
.,
~".
.,
1
Fig.
18 Burials
2
from Vasilyevka
37
1<124
~25
ka17
t<t18
30
r,I ~~
,If,
~l
Description
of burials:
of an adu l t,
extended
skul l s of adults.
in the supine
position.
...
No Sa. Various
1<84,14.24
bones of an adult
50
Only t he
supine
[QJI
Fig.
~II
~Ill
Only
1,1 w
,o
supine position
and well ochred. In most cases, the skeletons
in t he
lower part of the grave were destroyed by erosion.
Skeleton No. 16 lay
immediately on No. 14. Skeleton No. 16 overlay skeleton No. 19 which,
in turn, over lay burial No. 20.
No. 21. Burial of an adult extended in the supine
overlain by skeleton No. 20. Well coloured.
position
and part l y
'
11
10
-,
14
\ ~I
,, .
16
15
No. 31, Burial of an a dul t in the s upi ne posi tion . Only the
part of the skeleton and the left femur were preserved,
Coloured.
'
17
Fig.
Legs
position.
No, 29. Burial of an adult in the supine posi tion , The skull of
skeleton No, 29 overlay the feet of ske l etons Nos, 35 and 36. To the
l eft of the pel vis of No, 29 lay a fragment of a flint knife (Fig. 20 ,
19).
13
12
20
Vasilyevka
18
V cemetery.
of a 25 to 30-year
old female,
Extended
contracted
at the sides, Well coloured.
uppe r
supine
19
Flint
artifacts.
supine
No. 34.
position,
old
Burial
of
25 to
30-year
position.
female ,
Overlai n by
Extended
su pi ne
stratigraphically.
Thus, skeleton
No. 23 of the second group was
directly
over skeleton No. 33 of the first
group and overlay the latter
at an angle. The skull of skeleton No. 29 oriented to the E overlay the
tibio-fibular
bones of skeletons
Nos. 35 and 36 oriented
to the NE.
Attention
should be drawn also to the differences
in grave goods found
in the burials of these two groups. The earlier
burials
contained only
microlithic
finds (Nos. 10, 8), while the burials
of the l ater period
were accompanied
by massive
flint
artifacts
(No.29) typologically
related
to a later time.
The Osipovka Cemetery
In 1970, as a result
of the 'Dnieper-Donbass'
expedition
under the
di rection of the author, a large multi-period
cemetery was found on the
left
bank of
the
Orel
river,
near
the
village
of Osipovka,
Magdalinovsky district.
The cemetery is situated
on a small elevation
(about 4-5 m. above the level of the flood plain)
between the river
bank and the Liman Lake, which lies to its south.
Here, next to the
river,
a Neolithic
settlement
was situated
evidenced
by a cultural
layer
containing
ceramics
of the
Dnieper-Donets
culture.
The
northernmost
burials
of the cemetery were found on the extreme edge of
this Neolithic
settlement.
As a result of excavations
in 1971-73, there was unearthed an area of
about 1000 sq .m. encompassing 6 7 burials.
Among these burials,
the
author excavated ten grave pits of Neolithic
date (Nos. 3, 8, 11, 20,
28, 31, 34, 35, 65, 66).
The other graves are mainly from the Late
Bronze Age to still
later times.
The Neolithic
burials
occupied a band more than 30 m. long and about
10-12 m. wide, wherein they were rather widely spaced (Fig.21).
Among
these burials,
the most interesting
were four single graves (Nos. 3, 8,
11 , 28), one paired burial of an adult with an infant (No.20), and five
c ollective
grave pits with many skeletons
in each; i.e.,
grave pit
No.31 - 7 skeletons;
No.34 - 3 skeletons;
No.53 - 11 skeletons;
No.65 6 skeletons;
and grave pit No.66 - 4 skeletons.
In total,
there were
37 burials
comprising 26 adults,
one adolescent
and 10 children.
Two
single burials
(Nos. 8 and 28) were of children.
One infant was buried
in the paired grave No. 20.
Remains of seven child
skeletons
were
recovered from the collective
grave pits; one in grave pit 31 and six
in grave pit 53.
In the last case, one of the skel e tons was of an
adolescent.
42
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The positions
of the dead could be traced only in the single and
paired
burials,
wherein all were extended
in the supine position,
severely
contracted
at the shoulders,
arms at side, hands mainly on
pe l vie bones, legs straightened
and closed (Fig. 22, 3-5). Such an
arrangement of bones could only be feasible
if the dead were bound or
swaddled tightly.
The most indicative
in this respect was the paired
burial (No. 20) where the adult was swaddled together with a baby whose
bones were literally
'welded' against those of the adult (Fig. 22, 3).
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en
er
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In addition to these finds, among the bones in each of the two grave
pits
(Nos. 3 and 34) lay a ceramic fragment of the Dnieper-Donets
culture,
whose relation
to these burials
was not quite clear,
since
similar
ceramic fragments were also met in some other places of the
cemetery. Poor traces of red ochre were noticed on bones in collective
grave pit No.65. Below is a detailed
description
of the grave pits of
this cemetery.
No.3. Burial of an adult in an oval grave pit at a depth of about 1.5
m. in extended supine position.
North-western
orientation,
contracted
at shoulders,
arms at side (Fig.22,5).
Near the skull lay a Neolithic
comb-decorated sherd.
No.8. Burial of a child very poorly preserved
with head to the W. at a depth of 1.58 m.
22
position
3
Fig.
in extended
AA
10 tibias,
6 fibulas
bones (Figs.
No.34, Collective
secondary burial of three adults.
Bones (3 skulls,
6 femurs, 6 tibias,
6 ulnae , 6 radii)
l ay in a small grave pit (0 .5 x
0.8 m). Among the bones, a Neolithic
s herd was foun d (Fig. 22,2 ).
- ---- -~
~'\
''
-
- --
~---------
-------
- -- ---
No.53. Collective
secondary burial in an oval grave pi t measuring 1.9
x 0.6 m. in size with its long axis in a north-south
direction.
At
first,
there was found an accumulation
of small burnt stones and
remains of human bones which were considerably
burnt as well.
The
bones were out of any anatomical order.
In total,
there were 11 skulls
including
six of adults,
one of an adolescent,
and the rest of
children.
There were also found 11 femurs, 10 tibias,
12 humeri, 6
ulnae, 4 radi i , etc.
Among the pi l e of bones, there was found a bone
ornament of a pointed-oval
form decorated with pits on one side (Fig.
23,3).
No.65. Collective
secondary burial in an elongated grave pit of 0 .4 x
2.0 m. in size. Here lay the disordered
bones of six adults.
In total,
there were 6 skulls,
9 humeri, 7 radii,
11 ti bias, 4 f i bulas and 2
femurs.
Some of the bones had traces of ochre (Fig. 23,1).
-- - -2 ---
'
6
4
Fig.
23
characteristics
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture.
In general,
this
cemetery is probably dated to the Earlier
and Middle stages of the
Dnieper-Donets
culture,
i.e. , it may be assigned to the end of th ,e 5th
or the beginning of the 4th millennium b.c.
The C-14 analysis
of bones
from grave pit No.53 indicates
an age in a range from 3990+ 420 to 4125
+ 125 years b.c.
Unfortunately,
the internal
chronology
of the
Osipovka grave pits
could not be discerned
due to the absence of
stratigraphic
evidence.
Within
the territory
of Eastern
Europe,
only a few reusable
collective
grave pits may be considered analogous to those of Osipovka.
In this
respect,
we know only a group grave in the Chernaya-Gora
cemetery north of Riazan.
Here were discovered
four horizons
each
containing
5-8 skeletons
lying in disorder
(Tsvetkova 1970, 127-128).
The Yasinovatka Cemetery
The Yasinovataka
cemetery is situated
near the Dnieper rapids on the
high left bank of the river,
where the latter
sharply bends to the west
and then no less sharply returns
to the south, its general trend of
of the village
of
flow. The cemetery is located
4 km. north-west
Yasinovatka,
Vilnyanka district,
Zaporozhe region,
on the left tip of
Skelyuvataya
( or Kamyanuvataya) ravine.
On the right
bank of the
Dnieper,
opposite
the cemetery,
is situated
the village
of Vovnigy,
Dnepropetrovsk
region,
where in 1952 M. Ya. Rudynsky excavated
the
Neolithic
cemetery of Vovnigy II.
'"lj
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the deposits
in the vicinity
of the cemetery are
the steppe black soil up to 0.8 m. thick gradually
4A
49
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+
J_
-111
m 1v
0 "
I~---1
[Ilij
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Fig.
25
Yasinovatka
stones; II,
V - subsoil;
50
ated
by the nature
of
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II
3zl
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00
r-i
i:x..
,-
53
of three burial
groups:
loess.
The walls of the grave pits were more or less steep.
The
bottoms were oval (Fig.28).
The fill of these grave pits was of humic
loess
(from the subsoil).
In nearly
all
cases,
the skeletons
themselves were rather heavily sprinkled with red ochre, especially
in
the group graves.
In some of the A-group burials,
mainly at the
western margin (Nos. 17, , 18, 21, 43), ochre was barely visible.
Among the 68 burials
of ~he Yasinovatka cemetery, 21 skeletons
were
in small oval grave pits,
namely: six skeletons
(Nos.53, 54, 61-64)
were in grave pit A-1; seven skeletons (Nos.31, 55-58, 58a, 59) were in
A-2; four skeletons
(Nos.40-42, 65) were in A-4; and each of the A-3,
A-5, A-6 arid A-7 graves contained one skeleton,
respectively
Nos. 39,
60, 21, 5 (Fig.25, 28).
Skeletons in the group grave pits were of ten laid in a number of
layers,
one above the other, cutting
down and destroying
the earlier
burials,
when new grave pits were dug out.
Therefore,
the grave pits
contained well preserved skeletons and separate skulls as well as great
amounts of individual
bones heaped in disorder.
Grave pit A-1.
At the top, there were found three separate skulls
(Nos. 53, 61, 62).
There was also the upper part of skeleton No.54 and
a great number of long bones, probably of skeletons Nos. 53, 61 and 62.
Below were found two undamaged skeletons
lying one above the other:
No.63 was above No.64.
The whole mass of human bones was about 50 cm.
thick.
Near skeleton No.54 lay seven pendants of deer ~eeth (Fig.29,
bla~e of flint.
Near the
1-7) and a small fragment of a knife-like
chest of No.63 lay an Unio shell.
A poorly preserved bone awl was
found near the left ulna of skeleton No.64.
M-1 :20
o 20 40
Fig.
28
Yasinovatka
cemetery.
Burials
in grave pits
preserved
Near the
A knifefound 18
J!!la
.
'
io'ig. 29
55
Grave pits A-5, A-6, A-7. As noted above, in each of the graves lay
one skeleton
(Nos. 60, 21 and 5 respectively).
There was no grave
goods in any of the burials.
Besides the burials
in grave pits Al-7, this group should probably
include
a collective
burial
of adults
Nos. 19, 20 and 20a, whose
outline
could not be traced completely,
and also an adult burial No.33
whose outline could not be found at all.
The relation
of these burials
to this particular
group in the cemetery,
in addition
to orientation,
is confirmed by the fact that skeleton No.33 was cut by skeleton No.34
from the red-coloured
grave pit 6.
Moreover, near skeletons
Nos. 19
and 20 were found two deer tooth pendants (Fig.29,15),
typical
for the
oval grave pits of the A-type.
Grave pit 6
The red area of this collective
grave was noticed at a depth of about
1.2-1.3 m. from the present
surface,
i.e.,
in the middle part of the
subsoil.
In the loess, this grave pit in its central
part descended to
a depth of 0.8 m.
Its bottom was somewhat higher at the sides,
especially
towards the south-west
where the mass of the red-coloured
f ill partly overlay the A-type graves (Figs.24;
25).
In plan,
this
red-coloured
grave pit
was of a sub-rectangular
In its northern
part,
the layers of
outline,
5. 2 x 5. 6 m. in size.
earth were cut through by an Eneolithic
Yamnaya burial
lying under a
mound which was previously
examined by A.V. Bodyansky.
The colouration
of the red fill
of this grave pit was not always the same.
In the
upper portion of the fill,
the colour was darker, while below it became
lighter.
At the bottom of the pit,
especially
in its north-eastern
part, were found accumulations
of bright red colour.
In some places,
they formed spots up to O. 5 m. in diameter penetrating
somewhat into
the light-yellow
loess at the bottom of the pit.
In total,
the 6 grave contained more than 30 skeletons
in different
states
of preservation,
which according to their orientation,
could be
divided into two groups 6-1 and 6-2.
Burials of the 6-1 group oriented
to the north-east.
All of these
Judging by
burials
occurred in the north-eastern
part of the 6 -grave.
the number of skulls,
there were 33 burials.
Only six of them lay in
anatomical
order and retained
their
skulls
(Nos. 3, 24, 35, 36, 45,
50).
The other burials
were represented
only by single skulls (Nos. 1,
la, 4, 6, 6, 7-12, 22-28, 34, 37, 44, 46-49, 51, 52).
In addition,
in
this part of the grave pit, there were found postcranial
bones of ten
skeletons,
which lay in anatomical
order.
The arrangement
of these
remains made it possible
to reconstruct
the orientation
of the dead.
Thus, in total,
this group included 16 NE-oriented burials.
There were
also many single human bones of different
destroyed
skeletons.
The
destruction
of these skeletons
resulted
from repeated
usage of the
grave pits which could be clearly
traced in a number of cases.
Thus,
for example, when digging out a pit for burial
No. 35, skeleton
No. 34
was badly damaged, while skeleton No.35, in turn, was cut by the grave
pit for burial
No.36 (Fig.26,3).
A number of skeletons
were also
destroyed
(Nos. 12 A, 47a, etc.) when digging out a pit for burial No.
45, which was the richest
in terms of finds.
In some places,
the
burials
occurred in two or three layers.
Three layers were found, for
example,
thickness
near skeletons
Nos. 12, 12a-A and skulls
of the bone layer exceeded 30 cm.
48-49,
where the
57
blades
31, 13),
and six
,r
~
3
--..:.:..
,~~
~
.
8JK~
6
c:2~
23
24
~
~
30
d}
44
Fig.
30 Yasinovatka
near skeleton
cemetery. Mariupol-type
No. 45,
plates
4.0
Fig.
58
41
42
43
45
31 Yasinovatka
59
in such
(both on
assigned
(Telegin
Burials
of the 6-2 group oriented
to the north and north-west.
All
of the burials
were found in the south-western
part of the 6-grave.
Judging
by the number of skulls,
ten individuals
were buried
here.
Among the burials
were five well or nearly
well preserved
skeletons
(Nos. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18) and five single
skulls
(Nos. 13, 29, 30, 38,
43).
In addition,
here were six instances
of human postcranial
bones
and a number of
lying
in anatomic
order
(Nos.
16a, 17a,
32 6-A)
individual
long bones.
The orientation
was observed
for 11 of the
skeletons.
No grave goods were found near the 6-2 burials.
In the
fill
of this part of the grave,
there were only found a fragment
of a
comparatively
broad blade of flint
(Fig. 31, 42) and a small flake.
The Stratigraphy
of the Burials
According to stratigraphic
observations,
the burials
in the oval grave
pits
of the A-type were earlier
than those in the large
rectangular
grave of the
6-type.
This is confirmed
by the fact that the redcoloured
fill
of the
6-type
in its south-western
part overlay
three
pits of the A-type (Fig.25).
The more recent age of the burials
in the
6-type graves compared to those in the A-type graves is also confirmed
by the fact that skeleton
No. 32 in the A-type grave was cut by burial
No. 32 of the 6-type.
Judging
by the number of skulls,
the burials
of the A-type group
consisted
of 25 skeletons
including
21 skeletons
in graves Al-7 and
four skeletons
(Nos. 19, 20, 20a, 33), whose grave pits could barely be
seen or could not be traced at all.
Fig.
32
Yasinovatka
knife-like
cemetery.
Ceramics from the 6-pit
(1-5)
blade (6) found near skeleton
No. 65.
If
the
earlier
date
of the
burials
in the A-type
graves,
in
comparison
with the burials
in the
6-type grave,
is undoubted,
it is
rather
difficult
to
resolve
the
problem
on the
chronological
relationship
between the grave pits of the 6 -1 and 6-2 types,
though
the existence
of these as separate
groups is also undoubted.
Both of
61
and a
No. 5.
position,
It is quite evident that the 6-1 grave was begun with the first
group
of burials
oriented
to the north-east
which occupied two thirds of the
area of burial.
The depth of the red-coloured
fill
was two times
It is likely that
greater here than that in the area of the 6-2 group.
and only
the
-grave was initially
intended for the 6-1 group burials
at a later
time was it extended towards the south-west
to accommodate
6-2 group.
burials
of the differently
oriented
coloured
Therefore,
in the development of the Yasinovatka cemetery it is quite
possible
to distinguish
two chronological
types of an earlier
and a
later
period.
The former is characterised
by small pits of an oval
form, which were filled
with subsoil and where skeletons
were deposited
in a south-eastern
orientation.
In these burials
were found such
ornaments as pendants of deer teeth,
and also fish teeth.
Sometimes,
such ornaments were recovered
by the dozens.
Flint
articles
were
scarce,
there were no ceramics at all.
The second stage of the cemetery was characterised
by a rectangular
grave pit entirely
saturated
with red ochre.
The dead were deposited
Near
here with heads to the NE (6-1 group) and to the NNW(6-2 group).
6-1 group, there were found such ornaments as
the burials
of the
In the fill
were found flint
Mariupol-type
plates
of boar tusk.
artifacts
and ceramic fragments
decorated
with comb-stroked
ornament.
Only in one case were met pendants of deer teeth.
The burials
in the
6-grave, which are undoubtedly of a later origin compared to the A-type
graves,
seem to be from different
periods as well.
Among them, the
to be the earliest
and
burials
of the 6-1 group should be considered
period.
However, the
the burials
of the 6-2 group to be of a later
chronological
interval
between these groups was probably not very long.
Judging by the composition
of the flint
finds and the typological
compost ion of ceramics,
the Yasinovatka
cemetery,
in general,
was
undoubtedly
earlier
than the latest
cemeteries
of this type in the
Dnieper valley,
especially
those offering
collective
graves such as
Nikolskoye, Lysaya Gora, etc.
Description
of Burials
No.1.
Single skull
lying in a secondary
fill of the 6-grave.
No.la.
A fragment
No.2.
A single skull
fill of the 6-grave.
No.3.
Extended
skull
of 6 or 7 years
of a 50 to 55-year
near No.1.
No.4.
Single skull of an adult
the eastern edge of the 6-grave.
adult skeleton (4-a).
lying
fill
of the 6-grave.
under
of an
No.Sa.
Burials
of an aged male in
right hand near the pelvis.
the
A-7 grave.
Extended
lying
in
supine
the
red-
in
Nos. 6 and 7. Two single skulls with no mandibles lying together
secondary positions
among other human bones in the upper part of the
red fill
of the 6-grave.
No.6 was of a 20 to 30-year old female.
No.7
was of a 50 to 60-year old male.
Nos. 6a-6.
Damaged remains of a child burial
(6a) and of an adult
skeleton
(66) at the north-western
wall of the 6-grave.
Skulls were
missing.
Nearby were found deciduous teeth from burial No.66.
Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Single skulls with no mandibles in secondary
position
in the middle part of the red-coloured
fill
of the 6-grave.
No.8 was a 40 to 45-year old female.
No.9 was a mature male.
No.10
was a 50 to 55-year old male.
No. 11 was a 30 to 35-year old male.
No.12 was an adolescent.
Five damaged adult burials
with no mandibles
Nos. 12a- A.
Among them were two single skulls (Nos. 48-49).
three layers.
lying
No.13.
Remains of a single
very poorly preserved
skull.
likely
that the skeleton
was destroyed
by an Eneolithic
burial
under a mound.
in
It is
lying
No.14.
Burial of an adult extended in the supine position
with head
to the NNWat the base of the red-coloured
fill
of the 6-grave.
Arms
bent at the elbows, hands on the pelvis.
No.15.
Burial of a male in the fill
of the 6-grave (at its western
edge).
Extended supine position,
oriented
NW, legs straightened,
arms
bent at the elbows: the right arm was nearly at a right angle, the left
arm was bent a little
less.
Hands placed near abdomen.
No.16.
Burial of a male lying close to skeleton
No.15.
Extended
supine position,
same orientation
(NW). The right
arm was slightly
bent at the elbow.
Hands placed near abdomen.
The skull lacked its
mandible.
No. 16a.
Remains of an adult
extended in the supine position.
with
no skull.
No. 17.
Burial of an adult in the red-coloured
Extended supine position,
oriented
to the NNW.
The deceased
fill
was
of the 6-grave.
No. 17a.
Burial of an adolescent
with no skull,
close
No.17.
The deceased was extended in the supine position,
the pelvis.
to skeleton
hands near
No. 18.
Burial of an aged male at the western edge of the grave.
The skeleton
lay partly
outside
the red-coloured
area in the yellow
clay.
Extended supine position,
legs and the right arm straightened,
NNWorientation.
Two deer tooth pendants were found.
the skulls
of skeletons
Nos. 19 and 20 lay the
and three long bones at the level of skulls 19 an d
No.21.
Burial of an adolescent
in grave pit A6. Extended supine
position,
head to the NW, legs straightened,
arm (only the right arm
was preserved)
slightly
bent.
East and north of the skull lay heaps of
large human bones.
No.22.
A single skull of an adult lying in the yel l ow fill
south-eastern
corner of the 6-grave.
No mandible.
Crushed.
at th e
No.23.
Single skull of a 40 to 45-year old male lying in the redcoloured fill
at the south-eastern
corner of the 6-grave.
Secondary
pos i tion.
Overla i n by long bones. No mandible.
No.24.
Burial of a 35 to 40-year old male in the red-coloured
fill
of the 6-grave.
Extended supine position
with head to the NE, arms
slightly
bent at the elbows, hands on the pelvis.
No.34.
Si ngle skull of 5 or 6-year
red fill of the 6-grave.
old child
No. 35.
Burial of an ad ult in the 6 -grave.
head to the NE. Cut by No.36 (Fig. 26,3 ) .
with no mandib le in t he
Exten ded posi tion
with
No.36.
Adult buria l in a narro w oval pit in th e yellow clay at the
bottom of the 6-grave.
Wel l-preserved.
Exten ded supi ne position with
head to the NE facing upward. Legs stra i ghtened, a r ms sligh tly bent at
the elbows, hands on the pelvis (Fig. 26,3).
Nos. 37 an d 38.
Sing l e skulls of a f emale an d pro bably
(No. 38) in t he red fill of the 6-grave.
of a male
No.39.
Adult burial in a shallow oval grave pi t (A- 3) under the 6 grave.
Over l ain by the red-colour ed fill . Extended s upine positio n
with head to the SE. To the right of th e skul l lay a Cyprinida e too th.
Nos. 40, 41 , 42.
Group grave pit A-4 fil l ed wit h subso il.
The
skeletons
wer e lightly
sprinkled
with ochre and in extende d supine
positions
with heads to the SE (Fi g .33).
No.40 was a 7 or 8- year old
child;
No. 4 1 was a 6 or 7-yea r old chil d; No. 42 - burial of an age d
female.
Near the feet of No.40, a dee r t ooth pendant was f ound .
No.43.
Single skul l of a female among vario us human bones outsi de
the south- weste rn edge of t he 6 - grave .
Nos. 44, 46 , 47. Sin gl e sku lls of adul ts in the gra ve fill of bur ia l
No.45. Mandibles were missin g . Nos . 44 and 47 were of male s .
No.30.
Single child skull
coloured fill i n 6 -grave.
in the red-coloured
fill of
among various human bones;
No.31.
Burial of an adult.
Only the skull
bones were preserved lying i n the upper part
supine position with head to the SE.
adult burials
with no skulls
at the
i n the south-eastern
part of the 6 orie nted to th e NE, the others were
).
No.33.
Burial of an adult extended in the supine position.
Among
the preserved parts were only the skull and fragments of humeral bones.
These remains were found outside the red area of the 6-grave.
The
skeleton was probably cut.
64
No.47-a.
Remains of an adult burial lying
red-colo ured fi ll at the bottom of 6-grave.
of the
Nos. 48 and 49. Sin gle skulls of adul ts in the red -colo ur ed fi l l of
th e 6-grav e among the re mains of bur ials Nos. 12a- r .
No. SO.
An adult bur ial i n an oval el ongated pi t dug under the
northern wal l of the 6-grave in the ye ll ow s oil at its base.
The depth
of the pit fr om the bot tom of the 6 - gr ave was abou~ 35 cm. The ~ead
was in t he supine position
with head to the NE facing the r ight s ide.
Legs stra ighte ned, arms s l ightly
bent at the elbows , hands near th e
pelvis.
The feet and the skull were about 20-30 cm. higher than the
pelvi s .
Nos. 51 and 52. Si ngle skulls of a male (No.5 2) and a child of about
6 years (No.51) at the botto m of th e s outh ern slo pe of the 6-gr ave.
Nos. 53, 54, 61, 62, 63 1 64.
Six burials
in th e A-1 grave pit.
Skeleton No. 53 was at the top, then somewhat lower was No. 61 , and
still
lower were Nos. 54 , 62, 63 , 64 . Anatomical or der wa s obs er ved
only f or three skeletons
(Nos . 54 , 63 , 64)~ Nos. 63 and 64 were well
c c
preserved.
No. 54 was preserved only partly,
and only skulls were
preserved
for Nos. 53, 61 and 62.
The latter
were in secondary
positions.
The remains of skeleton No.54 and the single skulls were on
the pelvis and the chest of skeleton No.63 and lay in disorder.
The
lower part of skeleton No. 54 was cut away.
The pit fill
contained
seven deer tooth pendants (Fig. 29, 1-6) and two small bones probably
of a bird.
In addition,
there was found a small flint
flake.
Skeletons 54, 63 and 64 were sprinkled with ochre.
No.53 was a 20 to
35-year old female; No.54 was a male.
lO
I
<(
Nos. 54, 63 and 64. Adult burials in an oval grave pit (A-1).
The
dead were extended in supine positions
with heads to the SE (Fig.33).
Hands of Nos.63 and 64 were on pelvic bones. Near the feet of No.63, a
child's
mandible was found; on the chest lay an Unio shell.
A badly
preserved bone awl was found near the left ulna of No.64.
Nos. 55, 56, 57, 58, 58a and 59.
All the burials
occurred in the
oval grave pit A-2 under skeleton No.31 (Fig.33).
No.56 was a well
preserved
child.
No. 58a was mostly preserved,
but the skull was
missing.
Nos.55, 57, 58 and 59 were single skulls with no mandibles
lying in secondary positions
among a heap of large long bones.
The
heap of bones covered nearly the whole area of the grave.
No.SS was a
25 to 30-year male; No.58 was a male of about 20 years; No.59 was an
aged male.
'q"
I
<(
No.56. Burial of a child in the A-2 grave pit under a heap of bones
and skulls.
Extended supine position
with head to the SE, arms
straightened
at sides,
hands near the pelvis.
The foot-bones
were
damaged.
The burial was close to the left side of skeleton No. 58a
(Fig.33).
On the humeral bones near the chest and near the pelvis lay
about 30 Cyprinidae teeth.
Three deer tooth pendants were found near
the feet.
All the burials in the grave pit were sprinkled with ochre.
C\I
I
<(
T-
<(
00
rl
.,
No.65.
An adult burial in the A-4 grave under skeletons Nos. 40-43.
The grave outline could be traced only at the level of skeleton No.65.
The grave was of an oval shape narrowing towards the feet of the dead.
The dead was extended in the supine position with head to the SE. Arms
at side, hands under the pelvis.
The skeleton was contracted
at the
shoulders.
The skull was slightly
turned to the right (Fig. 26, 2).
Heavily coloured, but buried under the grey soil.
Near the mandible,
on the left hand side lay a medium sized knife-like
blade (Figs. 31,
38; 32,6).
Along the spinal
column, starting
from the thoracic
vertebrae,
lay 16 deer-tooth
pendants.
In addition,
two pendants were
found below the pelvic bones. There were 18 pendants in total.
On the
left and the right sides of the feet, at the same level within the
limits of the grave, lay two Cyprinidae teeth
Chapter
THE NIKOLSKOYE
CEMETERY
Opposite the former Nenasytets
rapids,
the largest
rapids
on the
Dnieper,
now covered by the Lenin Lake,
about a dozen ancient
monuments are known including
four Neolithic
cemeteries:
two on the
left bank near the village
of Vasilyevka
(II and V), and two on the
right bank near the village
of Nikolskoye.
The Vasilyevka cemeteries
and the so-called
Nenasytets
cemetery,
which is near the village
of
Nikolskoye,
have already
been described
above.
Below, a full
description
will be given of the second Nikolskoye cemetery which was
excavated by the author in 1959 and 1967.
The Nikolskoye cemetery is situated
on a high bank about 1 km. south
of the village
of Nikolskoye,
Solonensky
district,
Dnepropetrovsk
region,
and about 12 m. higher relative
to the present water level
(Fig. 34).
The Nenasytets
cemetery studied by A. V. Bodyansky in 1948
was opposite our excavation area and about 15-20 m. nearer the river.
Topographically,
the landscape in the vicinity
of our excavation
dotted nearly entirely
with small kurgans of various heights.
was
Fig.
34
Nikolskoye
cemetery.
Beginning
69
of excavation
in 1967.
+-
numbers of skeletons and only the A, )I{ and 1-1-pits each contained one
skeleton.
In addition,
in some other places of the cemetery, there
were examined three single burials with no traces of grave pits (Nos.
29, 30, 81) and a triple burial (Nos. 70-72).
+-
t-
+-
t--
..+
-n+
+-
!--
+-
+-
-+
++
Fig. 35 Nikolskoye cemetery. Plan and sectional view. Legend: I outline of pit; II - outline of hollow; III - limits of
erosion in 1949 and 1957; IV - fragmented vessels; V - tools;
VI - stones; VII - humus; VIII-IX - pit fills;
X - loess;
XI - layer of burnt remains.
70
cemetery,
the
grave
pits
and
Grave pit A
This was at the north-western
margin of the red~coloured hollow.
It
was oval in form and measured about 2 x 2.5 m. The walls of the pit
narrowed gradually towards the bottom, where it formed a regular circle
about 2 m. in diameter.
The outline of the pit was first encountered
at a depth of 0.9 m. from the present surface.
At about 1.75 m. the
pit tapered out and descended into the loessic loam. In section, this
pit appears to have started from the level of the middle or upper part
of the red-coloured fill.
This was obvious from the darker colouration
of soil above the pit compared to that in the nearest red-coloured
parts of the cemetery, and also from the presence of a stone cairn
(cairn II) right above the grave pit (Fig. 35). This mound was created
after the pit was filled
up.
Thus, in total,
the depth of the grave
pit was initially
about 1.5 m. The fill of the pit was generally grey
in colour, and only at the bottom it became slightly
reddish.
The main
finds were collected
at the very bottom level.
A single human skull
(No. 20) was found right under cairn II.
A little
lower, at a depth of
1.45 m., in the centre of the pit, there were found the following
articles:
a pelvic bone, the lower part of a large flat-bottomed
vessel
decorated with a linear double-toothed
ornament, a dog's mandible, a
tortoise
shell, a broken ornament made of boar-tusk (Fig. 36, 11) and
an Unio shell.
All the shells lay on a fire place among pieces of
charcoal.
Somewhat lower and apart from these finds lay the lower part
of a round-based
vessel
decorated
with a sub-triangular
stroked
ornament.
The upper part of this vessel was found well apart from the
A-pit, and one of its fragments was even in the 6-pit at a depth of
about 1.2-1.4 m. Around grave pit A, at a depth of about 0.5-0.6 m,
there were found about 200 Neolithic
pottery fragments belonging to
different
vessels.
Alongside these finds, there were unearthed many
single skulls (Nos. 4-16) and great amounts of human long bones. It is
probable that the pit area was intended for performing certain rituals.
Grave pit 6
This pit was situated in the centre of the red-coloured hollow.
It is
likely that this was the main grave pit of the cemetery.
The area of
the 6-pit first
appeared against the background of the red-coloured
fill
at a depth of 0.6 m. from the present surface,
where various
stones from cairn I were found. Initially,
the pit was irregular
in
form, though one could make out a poorly defined rectangle with a long
projection
in the form of a tongue at its eastern side directed towards
the river.
At this level the area measured 3 x 4 m. Somewhat lower,
at a depth of 1. 2 m. , the area measured considerably
less, and its
projection
towards the river petered away completely.
Here, the pit
71
6
I
L
I
I
11
11
.~
12
L
Fig. 37
72
Nikolskoye cemetery.
and mace (15).
Flint
artifacts
73
(1-13),
was sub-rectangular
and measured 2 x 2.4 m. The projection
towards the
river
represented
a gently
sloping
trench,
trough-like
in crosssection,
running into the pit from the river
side.
The pit was
separated from the entrance by a step about 0.5 m. high.
The 6 -pit
was excavated down into loam to a depth of 1.85 m. and was initiated
from the lower or middle level of the red-coloured
fill of the general
hollow of the cemetery (Fig.35).
3
2
11
10
12
9
Fig. 38
Nikolskoye
cemetery.
Flint
74
fill
were heavily
poorly burnt.
08
@0
08
(a)(J
11
@J]
@D
10
t::::::~@ ~
13
12
14
17
15
'
16
the others
found a little
lower were
The ceramics found under the black fill of the pit are represented by
fragments of two vessels,
whose forms have been partly or completely
reconstructed.
Here were also found sherds, decorated with stroked (20
pcs) and linear
(5 pcs) ornament, typical
for the Dnieper-Donets
culture.
The surface of one of the sherds is covered with a thick
layer of burnt scale probably as a result of cooking.
These pot like
vessels have rather thick (about 1.2 cm) walls, slightly
projecting
rims and flat bottoms.
They are decorated with stroked ornament (Fig.
40,1).
It is interesting
to note that some of these sherds were found
outside the 6-pit in the red-coloured
fill of the cemetery, where they
lay at various depths from 0.5 to 1. 1 m. while nearly half of the
fragments of one vessel (Fig. 40,5) lying outside the 6-pit were found
in the red-coloured
fill
at a depth of about 1.2-1.4 m. As noted
above, in the 6-pit there was also found a fragment of a round-based
vessel,
which was the only one of this type in the cemetery (Fig.
40,8).
.
@)B
tl
while
00
burnt,
12-14),
deer
Grave pit B
This was situated
in the immediate vicinity
of pit 6 and was partly
overlain by the black fill
of the latter.
The subrounded contour of
the pit was traced at the level of the lower margin of the red-coloured
lens of the cemetery at a depth of about 1 m. It measured 2.2 x 1.6 m.
and was dug into the loess to a depth of 35 cm. The total depth of the
pit from the present surface was about 1.35 m.
The pit fill
was
composed of powdered ochre with an insignificant
admixture of soil.
The B-pit contained six skeletons
(Nos. 31, 52-56):
Two of the
skeletons
(Nos. 53 and 55) lay on the bottom of the pit in close to
anatomical
order.
The skulls,
arm bones and fibulas
were well
preserved.
All the skeletons were extended in supine positions
with
heads to the W. Near the pelvis of No.53 lay a string of gagate beads
(67 pieces).
Similar beads were found near the left shoulder of No.55.
In addition,
near these skeletons lay four pendants of immature deer
teeth (Fig. 39,11) and 50 Cyprinidae teeth.
Immediately over the skulls of these well preserved skeletons
lay
three separate skulls and a heap of long bones.
One of the skulls
(No.31) and a number of bones lay somewhat higher and close to the
western edge of the pit.
Besides the finds directly
related to skeletons 53 and 55, the B-pit
contained about 20 Cyprinidae teeth,
four small flat beads of white
stone, and also two fragments of a mountain crystal.
In the B-pit
76
77
\
/
''
Fig.
40
Grave pit r
It was situated
near the southern edge of the red-coloured
soil of the
cemetery.
The scarcely visible
outline of this pit was first
noticed
at a depth of about O. 9-1.0 m.
It was easy to see that the pit
consisted of two unequal parts - southern and northern.
Judging by the
way the skeletons cut one another the northern part of the cemetery was
evidently earlier
than the southern part.
It is probable that the northern part of the pit was created prior to
the formation of the red fill
in the area of the cemetery.
It was
about 1. 7 m. deep and free of ochre.
In this part of the pit at
various
depths,
more than 10 individuals
were buried.
They were
deposited in three layers.
On the bottom of the pit, there were found
two superimposed skeletons (Nos. 57 and 58). The lower skeleton was in
anatomical order, while the upper one had no legs.
Here was also found
a single skull (No. 59).
A little
higher lay the remains of destroyed
skeletons
Nos. 38 and 39, and still
higher there was found skeleton
No.33 in close to anatomical position and also four single skulls Nos.
32, 34, 35, 35a and destroyed bones of their skeletons.
It is quite
probable that burial No. 27, which was unearthed at a still
higher
level, was also related to this grave pit.
It was clearly seen that
the right sides of skeletons Nos. 33 and 57 were cut away as a result
of digging out the southern part of the pit (Fig.41).
It might be well
to point out some features
which indicate
that the skeletons
were
displaced
in this
part
of the grave pit prior
to the complete
decomposition of the deceased.
For instance,
the upper part of the
lowermost burial (No.58) was displaced to the left, and skeleton No. 39
was turned over.
It is quite probable that prior to the decomposition
of the tendons, skeleton No.33 was also disturbed.
/~a
stroked
One of
outside
of 0.6
6-pit
(1,2)
and the
The southern part of the pit was probably dug from the upper or
middle part of the red-coloured
soil of the cemetery.
It was 1.8 m
deep, i.e.,
10 cm. deeper than the northern part.
At various depths in
the southern
part of the pit,
there were found remains of five
destroyed skeletons
(Nos. 36, 37, 40-42).
The upper part of skeleton
No.30 was also cut away as a result of digging out this grave pit at
its south-eastern
margin.
In its southern part, the burial soil was
reddish in colour.
The finds were collected
in the southern part of the grave pit.
Among them were three rounded copper beads (Fig. 39,17), an ornament of
boar tusk (Fig. 36,8) and a fragment of the same, and also five sherds
decorated with a stroked linear ornament.
The function
of the southern part of the pit is not quite clear,
since no undamaged skeletons were found there.
It was dug out in the
area of the cemetery considerably
later than the northern part.
It is
probable that this part of the pit was nearly contemporaneous with the6
-pit and it was created only for holding the material
dug out of the
latter when it was overfilled
with bones.
78
79
Grave pit/J.
It was situated
a few metres south-west
of the red-coloured
cemetery
hollow.
Its outline
was noticed near the subsoil-loam
interface
at a
depth of about 1 m. This pit was rounded in shape and measured 1.2 x
1.7 m. In its lower part, the pit tapered somewhat.
The total depth
of the pit from the present
surface was about 1~5 m. Judging by the
number of skulls,
the pit contained the remains of 12 individuals
(Nos.
115-119, 119a-s, 133-136) buried in two horizons.
In the upper part of
the pit,
in the red-ochre
fill,
there were unearthed
four skeletons
(Nos. 115-118) lying in anatomical
order and the remains of destroyed
skeletons
Nos. 119, 119a-B. All the dead with but one exception were
extended in the supine position
with heads pointing W. The position
of
skeleton
No. 119a, which was only partly
preserved,
was somewhat
different:
the legs seemed to .be initially
flexed at the knees and then
fell into a rhombic position
(Fig. 42,1).
In these burials
the following
artifacts
were found: a small flint
knife , a scraper,
a flint
spear-point,
a fragment of a flint
axe (Fig.
37, 1, 10), and fragments of knife-like
blades (Fig. 38,1-3,12).
Some
of the skeletons
were accompanied by sherds typical
for the Nikolskoye
cemetery.
Near skeleton 117 lay a beaver's mandible and an Unio shell.
About 5-10 cm. below, directly
under the upper bone horizon,
lay the
remains of four destroyed adult skeletons
(Nos. 133-136) accumulated in
a heap.
In the lower portion
of the pile the bones were uncoloured.
There were no finds.
Grave pit E
This pit was of an oval form with irregular
walls and measured 1.2 x
2.0 m. The pit outline was revealed at a depth of 1.05 m. Under its
northern edge, there was noticed a niche filled
up with clay which had
probably intruded from the top.
About 0.8 m. west of the pit at a depth of O. 7 m. fragments
typical Neolithic
burial vessel were recovered.
On the whole, the E-pit contained the remains
79a, 120-125) lain in two horizons (Figs. 42,2).
Fig.
41
No. 59
of a
80
81
Grave pit JK
This pit was situated
at the boundary between squares 64 and 79.
It
was rounded in shape and about 1. 2 m. in diameter.
Its outline was
first noticed at a depth of about 0.1-0.3 m. from the present surface.
The upper part of the pit was completely filled with ochre.
A little
lower, at a depth of 0.4 m., the ochre-rich
soil occurred in spots
about 30-40 cm. in diameter.
At a depth of 0.2 m., there were
collected
various human bones.
More individual
bones and fragments of
a mandible were met a little
lower. Here was found a broken knife-like
blade (Fig. 38,10) and a number (about 10 pieces) of Cyprinidae teeth.
ilo.7
-+
5?
CK/2/
et</22
CK !2J
CH.IJ6
~
Grave pit 3
This was the largest
grave pit of the cemetery (Fig. 43).
Its
subrectangular
outline was noticed at a depth of about 1 m. from the
surface.
The pit measured 2.4 x 3.0 m. and was 0.6 m. deep from the
upper edge. The walls of the pit were irregular
in form and contained
On the
niches.
The pit was completely filled with red-coloured
soil.
bottom at the north-western
corner of the pit lay fragments of a flatbased stroke-ornamented
vessel.
The pit encompassed the remains of 41
skeletons (Nos. 82-114, 126-132, 137, 137-a) including two skeletons in
anatomical order (Nos. 89 and 90).
Initially,
there were unearthed 26
deceased lying at a depth of 0.2-0.3 m. These were generally skulls
mixed with separate bones.
However, in the centre of the pit, on a
relatively
flat
surface,
lay two coloured skeletons
- of an adult
(No. 82) and of a child (No. 90).
Both were extended in the supine
position and close to anatomical order with heads to the W. Under the
skeletons there was seen a lens of grey clayey soil about 1 cm. thick,
and then again there appeared skulls
and separate
bones.
After
skeletons Nos. 89 and 90 were removed, we observed in the middle of the
pit and somewhat nearer to its north-western
margin a comparatively
large fire-place.
Therefore,
all the adjacent skulls and bones were
burnt, though the traces of fire were generally seen in the centre of
the hearth.
Among the pile of bones lay a few sherds typical for the
Nikolskoye cemetery, and a number of Cyprinidae teeth.
CHJJ4---+Hl,,C/~~
CH.13J
Fig. 42
Nikolskoye cemetery.
Burials
A and E
in pits
CH.//0
-+
Clf.109
In the second level of this pit there were found the remains of nine
additional
skeletons
(Nos. 109-114, 126-129) mostly in the form of
separate and burnt bones.
A number of poorly preserved skeletons lying
in close to anatomical order were met only near the walls of the pit.
They seemed to be the remains of displaced semi-decomposed bodies.
1/3
;w,i-'--:i::K
I
:'
The third and fourth levels of the pit yielded the remains of another
five skeletons
(Nos. 129-132, 137), a number of human mandibles and
individual
bones.
At the eastern wall of the pit lay skeleton No.99a
with no mandible.
It was extended in the supine position and oriented
to the N. In similar extended positions
lay the remains of skeletons
Nos. 137a and 131 at the southern wall.
The skull of the latter
was
preserved but the right half and the lower part of the skeleton were
missing.
"\
l<.9/
UK'J~'l-r-l ._ - CK.//4
CK 130
......., ... ,
_:'p;98
Ctr./32
~~Wll....../,1..,~-Ctr.!3/
Fig. 43
Nikolskoye
bones.
cemetery.
Pit
82
burnt
The red-coloured
fill of the pit contained individual
pot
the Nikolskoye type and numbers of Cyprinidae teeth.
As a
sieving the excavated soil, there was found a plate of boar
36, 5)
A broken burnt scraper was found on the bottom
southern edge of the pit (Fig. 38,4).
83
sherds of
result of
tusk (Fig.
near the
1-,
Q)
.
lH
(1j
,-;
,-;
'M
lH
"C
Q)
1-,
;:I
0
,-;
0
.;
CJ
"C
In total,
outside the grave pits and especially
in the red-coloured
soil of the hollow there were found more than 20 single skulls (Nos. 116, 16a, 17, 19, 21, . 24, 31, 69, 75).
During the two years of
excavation
in the Nikolskoye cemetery 137 burials were recovered.
In
most cases, these burials were of adults (80 skeletons),
namely: males
- 30, females - 21, adolescents
- 13 and children
- 9 (Table 1, 9).
Therefore,
judging by the number of the burials,
this cemetery is the
largest
in the area of the Dnieper rapids.
Q)
1-,
Q)
..c::
.
El
0
"
.J
1-,
lH
Cl.l
,-;
Q)
Cl.l
Cl.l
Q)
>
>,
1-,
Q)
Q)
El
Q)
CJ
Q)
>,
'M
(1j
0 .
Inventory
Besides the above mentioned finds collected
directly
in grave pits,
many finds were collected
between them and especially
in the redcoloured soil of the hollow.
In particular,
there were found eight
large
and middle-sized
flint
knives
(Fig.
38,5),
six
scrapers
(Fig.37,5,
7-9),
two flint
spear-points
(Fig. 37,2),
17 knife-like
blades,
a bevelled
point,
a trapeze
(Fig. 37, 11-13), and about 20
flint flakes.
Cl.l 1-,
,-; 0
0 .
~
'M
""
""
.
00
'M
i:z..
Cl.l
Q)
1-,
The stone tools found in the cemetery comprise a polished axe or adze
(Fig. 37,14) and a fragment of a perforated
implement.
In addition,
in
various
squares
of the excavated
area there
were collected
four
ornaments,
both broken and intact,
of boar tusk (Fig. 36,1,4,6,9),
about ten flat-sectioned
rounded beads of gagate and green stone, and a
copper bead (Fig. 39, 3-5, 18).
In the red-coloured
soil there were
also found fragments of a stone mortar and a pestle.
Pot sherds were
numerous and included more than ten vessels in fragments.
As already
mentioned above, the number of sherds in one place alone near the A-pit
was about 200 pieces.
Sherds and fragments of vessels lay at a depth
ranging from 0.4 to 1.0 m. Some of them were found in the grave pits,
especially
in the 6 -grave,
where we collected
more than two dozen
fragments,
including
fragments
of vessels,
whose forms have been
restored
(Fig.44).
All the vessels
found in the cemetery were broken in antiquity.
Therefore,
in some places the sherds lay as accumulations
of fragments
and, in some cases, nearly all the fragments of one vessel could be
84
85
Table I
GRAVE
GOODS
Table 1
GRAVEPITS
A
GRAVES
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
)I(
1
1
Inside
Red Fill
Outside
Red Fill
Surface
Total
Flint
Knives
Knife-like blades
Scrapers
Spear-points
Flakes
Ceramics
Broken vessels
Sherds
Ornaments
Unio shell
Deer teeth
Fish teeth
Annular beads (total)
gagate
green stone
limestone
carnelian
Cylindrical beads
Boar tusk plates
Copper artifacts
Other finds:
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
25
1
0
0
0
103
0
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
2
2
2
1
1
1
0
dog
mandible,
tortoise
shell
70
184
179
11
7
0
4
0
0
0
0
mace,
gold
pendant,
86
mountain
crystal
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
3
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
axe,
beaver
mandible
0
0
0
0
0
8
17
6
2
20
0
1
0
2
1
0
3
0
0
0
26
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
22
10
0
0
0
2
0
2
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
20
0
0
0
0
0
0
13
0
1
3
0
2
0
6
0
2
0
13
36
8
9
20
0
0
19
37
0
0
Trapeze
Adze,
Mace,
Mortar,
Pestle,
Bevelled Point
87
251
207
187
4
8
2
3
12
Trapeze
collected
fragments
oF~v;s
89
of a peculiar external
collar.
In most cases, it is bevelled inside,
and only in some cases is the collar edge flat (Fig. 40,6).
The body
of such pots is usually globular in form, but sometimes the form may be
somewhat carinated
(Fig. 40,6).
The maximum diameter of the vessel is
usually
in its upper third,
but in some cases it is in the upper
quarter or in the middle of the body (Fig. 40, 3).
Half the vessels
would have been very unsteady because of the small diameters of their
bases.
This especially
applies
to the large sized pots.
In most
cases, the bases are slightly
concave.
It is interesting
to note that
the large-sized
vessels are thin-walled,
in some cases less than 1 cm.
thick.
The fabric
includes
sand and grog
sometimes coarse
grained
particles.
There are also traces of vegetable
temper.
Two of the
sherds include graphite.
It is not improbable that chamotte was also
used as an admixture.
Thus, for instance,
one of the sherds includes a
small ceramic fragment decorated with stroked ornament.
It is obvious
that the walls of the vessels are constructed
of coil strips.
All the
vessels have rather smoothed surfaces.
Only in rare cases on the inner
surface are comb traces observed.
The vessels are usually decorated from the rim to the very bottom,
and nearly in all cases the ornament is spread inside the rim and to
the outer surface of the base.
Among the decorative
motifs the most
frequent
are stroked
grooves,
next are linear
and short
incised
ornaments, and also comb and two-or three-toothed
patterns.
In some
cases the ornament is in the form of circles.
As a rule, the vessels
are covered by only one ornamental element, though combinations are
also known such as strokes and lines, lines and comb-marks and strokes,
etc. (Fig. 44,8).
In most cases, the pottery from Nikolskoye cemetery is decorated with
stroked ornaments (45 vessels).
The stroked ornamentation
usually
takes the form of so-called stroke-lines,
where stroke chains differing
in length are joined by single grooves.
In some cases, however, the
rows of strokes are executed with no grooves or vice versa.
The form
of strokes is most commonly sub-triangular.
In some cases, the strokes
are elongated without any definite
contour.
The stroked ornaments are
usually shallow and sometimes barely visible.
Ten vessels
are decorated
with scratched
ornament.
Some of the
vessels
are
decorated
with
smoothed and stroked
ornaments
in
combination.
The main ornamental motif is in the form of a herringbone pattern
(Fig.
44,3,8).
The ornament on two vessels is in the
form of an oblique lattice
(Fig. 45,1).
The upper part of one vessel
is entirely
covered with horizontal
lines (Fig. 40,3).
The ornamental
lines
may be narrow and deep or slightly
broadened and smoothed.
Sometimes, the ornamental lines are very shallow.
There are only four vessels
decorated with comb or tooth-stabbed
ornaments.
Among them, one vessel is decorated with fine-toothed
comb
impressions arranged in vertical
lines (Fig. 45,4).
The base of this
vessel is also covered with similar ornament, while the ornament on the
rim is an oblique net pattern.
The rim of another vessel is decorated
with comb ornament, which is combined with chains of strokes.
In the
lower part, the vessel is decorated with diagonal comb lines.
Two of
the vessels
are entirely
covered with horizontal
lines of a three91
toothed
pattern.
The upper part of one of these vessels
is also
decorated with twin zigzag comb ornament running around the body (Fig.
45,4).
In addition,
the assemblage includes
a few sherds decorated
w.ith a two-toothed
linear pattern
(Fig. 45,5).
As a rule, the ornament covers the entire
surface of the vessel,
and
only in some cases
is the vessel
only lightly
ornamented.
The
ornamental
compositions
vary.
Sometimes, they are very complicated,
but in general the composition is subordinated
to horizontal
zoning.
It is interesting
to note a great variety
of ornaments on the bases
of some vessels.
These ornaments include oblique lattice
compositions,
hatched
patterns
of parallel
lines,
concentric
circles,
etc.
(Fig .
40,2,6,7).
In some cases,
the base is decorated
with an ornament in
the form of a hexagonal
star
on which rectangles
are inscribed.
Unornamented bases are absent from our collection.
On the whole, the Nikolskoye ceramics have a direct analogy with the
Late Neolithic
assemblages
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
in the
vicin i ty of the Dnieper rapids and the Azov region (Sredny Stog).
Due
to the
secure
provenence,
homogeneity
and number,
the
ceramic
assemblage of the Nikolskoye cemetery may be taken as a standard for
the stage II-B of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
in the vicinity
of the
Dnieper rapids and the Azov region as a whole.
As has been noted above,
in addition
to the pottery
fragments
ordinarily
found in the stage II-B
complex of the Dnieper-Donets
culture,
the red-coloured
soil of this cemetery also contained
three
vessels which cannot be typologically
related
to them.
They include a
round based vessel,
a narrow necked amphora-like
vessel and a Tripolyetype pot.
Fig.
45
decorated
with channeling,
The round-based
vessel is small in size (about 16 cm, high, the neck
is 13 cm. wide).
The form of the vessel has been reconstructed
(Fig.
40,6).
The rim is scarcely
defined and its edge is bevelled inside.
The body is globular in form.
The maximum diameter of the vessel is at
93
92
2
Fig.
46
Nikolskoye cemetery.
vessel (2).
A Tripolye
95
example,
inscribed
triangles,
etc.
the
vertical
zigzag
ornament
It is believed
that this vessel was made by the Dnieper-Donets
occupants of the site,
but the prototype of its form was introduced
from somewhere outside,
probably from the Neolithic
cultures
of the
North Caucasus or Tripolye.
A small Tripolye pot (9.8 cm. high) was found nearly intact
(Fig.
46,1).
It was recovered near the amphora in the red-coloured fill of
the cemetery at a depth of about 0.6 m. One of the fragments of this
thin-walled
pot was found in the adjacent square at a depth of 0.6 m.
The clay of which it was made is free of visible admixtures.
The neck
of the pot is comparatively high.
The rim is not thickened but extends
slightly
outwards.
The bottom is flat and small in diameter.
The neck
is decorated with horizontal
flutes.
Similar flutes
run over the
vessel's
body at acute
angles
to each other
whose apexes are
alternatively
directed
up and down. A row of delicate
comb strokes
runs along the ridges between the flutes.
A similar row of strokes
underlining
the rim separates
the body from the neck and defines the
lower margin of the ornament nearly reaching the bottom. An analogy to
this vessel may be seen only in the Early Tripolye settlements
of the
right-bank Ukraine, especially
in the assemblages of Borisovka and the
lower layer in Pechora on the South Bug river.
It goes without saying
that this vessel was imported into the Nikolskoye cemetery.
Therefore,
its presence is of great importance in resolving
the chronological
stages of the cemetery and in synchronizing Nikolskoye with Tripolye.
Description
of burials
Single skull
A and 6.
of an adult
were single
child
skull
lying
Nos. 25 and 26. The second paired burial of adults (Nos. 26 was of a
50 to 60-year old female) was found under the black charcoal layer in
pit 6 at depths of 1.1 and 1. 15 m. Extended supine positions
with
heads to the W. The right arm bones of skeleton No.26 overlay the left
part of skeleton No. 25.
There were many Neolithic
sherds sometimes
with traces of secondary burning about the skeletons.
Near the right
foot of No. 25 lay a fragment of a flint
spear-point,
an ornament of
boar tusk and four fragments of flint blades with retouch.
No.29, there
was found a
No. 18/67.
Burial of an adult lying at a depth of 0.65 m. under
cairn III.
Extended supine position
with head to the E and legs
slightly
bent upward at the knees.
The arm bones were heavily
sprinkled with ochre.
No.19.
grave-pits
The rest
Nos. 28 and 29. Burial No.29 was of a 50 to 60-year old male. It was
found in anatomical order at a depth of 0.8 m. on the southern margin
of the red-coloured
cemetery soil.
Extended supine position,
arms at
side, legs straight,
oriented
to the NW. The burial was sprinkled
lightly with ochre.
Under the pelvis of burial No.29 lay a fragment of
a spear-point.
Single skull of a 35 to 45-year old male lying in the redsoil west of the pit 6 at a depth of 0.25 m.
order.
No. 27.
Remains of an adult burial lying over the northern part of
pit r at a depth of 0.9 m. Extended supine position.
The upper part
of the skeleton was missing.
The tibia together with the feet were cut
off by the southern part of the r-pit.
by G. P. Zinevich)
lying
No.20.
Separate skull of an adult lying under cairn
at a depth of 0.6 m. Broken, with no mandible.
III
over pit
lying
edge of
97
near skeleton
this skeleton
a number of
on her right
Nos. 44-51.
Eight single skulls of adults were found among various
human bones in the upper part of the red-coloured
fill of pit 6 under
the black charcoal layer, about and mainly under the paired burial of
Nos. 25 and 26, at a depth ranging from 1.39 to 1.67 m. In most cases,
the skulls were badly damaged and nearly all lacked mandibles.
Nos.
44, 47 and 48 were of 35 to 45-year old females; No. 49 was a 20 to 25year old female; No. 46 was a male of the same age.
Here were found
the following articles:
a fragment of a spear-point
near skull No. 45,
two knives of flint in fragments (No. 50) and a Neolithic sherd.
Nos. 52-56.
Five burials in pit
Two of them (Nos. 53 and 55)
were in anatomic order; the rest were damaged.
Single skulls of an
adolescent (No. 52) and of an adult (No. 54) with no mandibles.
These
skulls and that of a single child (No. 56) were among various human
bones at a depth of 1.09-1.18 m.
No. 53. Burial of a 20 to 25-year old female lying on the bottom of
pit B near skeleton
No. 55 at a depth of 1.2 m.
Extended supine
position oriented
to the W. Arms at side, legs straight.
Near the
pelvic bones lay a string of gagate beads.
No.SS.
Burial of a 35 to 45-year old male in pit B
1.26 m. The dead was in the supine position with head to
upward.
Arms at side.
A great number of Cyprinidae
pendants of immature deer teeth were found near the right
at a depth of
the W. facing
teeth and six
shoulder.
was slightly
bent at the elbow, the hand being near
left arm was at the side, the legs and feet straight.
Nos. 60-66.
Seven single
(Nos. 60, 61, 62, 64, 65) and
layer of pit 6 at a depth of
old male. No. 64 was a 13 to
The
No. 70-72.
Group burial of a child skeleton (No. 70) and two single
child skulls under the southern part of cairn III at a depth of 0.8 m.
No. 70. Burial of a 7 to 10-year old child, extended in the supine
position,
head to the NW. A string of white annular beads was found
near the right shoulder.
Below the pel vie bones lay a number of
Cyprinidae teeth.
Nos. 73-74.
The remains of a number of skeletons
destroyed
by
erosion at a depth of 0.3 m. in the northern part of the area excavated
in 1967.
No. 75.
Single broken skull of a 20 to 25-year
mandible at a depth of 0.7 m. west of pit E.
on its
left
side
98
the chest,
99
119a.
These skeletons
of skeleton
turned to
No. 89 at
the adult
male(?)
extended in the supine position,
legs
The skull had fallen off to the west side and
base up. The tibial
bones of skeleton No. 115
bones of skeleton No. 119a. The latter was in
No. 116.
Burial of a 50 to 60-year old female lying immediately
under skeleton No. 115 and on skeleton No. 117. The right shoulder was
slightly
raised, legs straight,
arms at side.
The skull was turned to
its left.
Between the femurs there was found a sherd of the Nikolskoye
type.
A fragment of a knife-like
blade was below the skull.
No. 117. Burial of a female with head to E. Legs straight,
arms at
side.
A spear-point
(Fig. 37,1) was found under the pelvis.
Near the
skull lay a fragment of an axe (Fig. 37, 10), mandible of beaver and
Unio shells.
The femoral bones of skeletons Nos. 116 and 117 overlay
the skull of skeleton No. 133.
No. 118. Burial of a 45 to 50-year old male, extended in the supine
arms on the
position at the northern wall of pit A Legs straight,
pelvic bones.
Legs and hands were overlain by skeleton No. 119a lying
in the contracted position.
No. 119. Single skull of an adult
found in the chest of skeleton 118.
in secondary
position.
It
was
No. 119a. Burial of an adult lying in the middle part of pit A. All
the bones were in anatomical order, but there was no skull.
It is
probable that the bones belonged to skull No. 119.
Burial No. 119a
overlay all the skeletons of pit A. Legs were in a rhombic position.
Nos. 120-125.
Burial of a male about 35-45 years lying in a
complicated position
near the southern wall.
The skull was on its
right side.
The chest was in the supine position,
while the femoral
bones were crosswise, and the tibial
bones were parallel.
Arms bent at
the elbows, hands near the cervical vertebrae.
It is probable that the
skeleton was disturbed in ancient times.
The pelvis was broken and its
left half was turned over.
No. 121. Burial of a 35 to 45-year old male, extended in the supine
position facing up, but the mandible was broken and lay nearby.
Legs
straight,
arms at side.
The right shoulder overlay skeleton No. 120.
100
by a femur of
No. 137a.
Burial of an adult.
The skull and the left half of the
skeleton were missing.
It was found along the southern wall of pit
3 in the supine position.
Hands near the pelvis.
Slightly coloured.
Comments on the Stratigraphy
and Chronology
The evidence suggests that the red soil of the cemetery, which was
composed of a mixture of black soil and powdered ochre introduced in
unequal amounts, accumulated
gradually
and concurrently
with the
construction
of the grave pits, at least of the latest
period.
It is
quite
probable
that
initially
the place of the future
cemetery
comprised a natural hollow in the form of a shallow saucer.
A gradual
accumulation of the red-coloured
fill of the cemetery is evident from
the distribution
of the grave goods spread in the fill as if they were
suspended.
In this respect,
an illustrative
example is furnished by
the distribution
of the fragments of particular
vessels.
Though these
fragments could be found in various
squares,
in most cases they
occurred at the same basic level.
Sometimes, these fragments were
discovered at a considerable
distance (about 5-7 m.) from the rest of
the vessel.
101
also difficult
to come to a proper conclusion on the chronology
single burials.
It is only possible to say that grave No. 30
The
an earlier
age compared to the southern part of pit r.
burial
(Nos.70-72),
wherein a boar tusk object was found, is
to the final stage of the cemetery.
Therefore,
in the development of the Nikolskoye cemetery, which is
generally viewed as a single unit in terms of its cultural
remains, we
may distinguish
the following two successive stages.
The first,
i.e.,
the early stage, includes the initial
period of the
cemetery.
It is represented
by burials found in the northern part of
up with grey-coloured
soil free of ochre.
These burials
pit r filled
(Nos. 57, 58 etc.) contained no artifacts,
and the pit fill contained
no sherds.
It is believed that this pit was constructed
prior to the
creation of the red-coloured
lens.
A little
later there were dug three
by the presence of
grave pits
(B, A, E), which are characterized
similar nearly undamaged burials accompanied by flat annular beads and
pendants of deer teeth.
The second, i.e.,
the latest
stage of the cemetery, is characterised
by the construction
of large grave pits,
such as 6 and 3 It
probable that during the final functional
stage of the cemetery pit
was also dug out.
At the same time, heaps of skulls were gathered
the hollow near pit 6. It is quite probable that the southern part
pit r was also dug out in this period.
Although we distinguish
two successive
stages in the
the Nikolskoye cemetery, we, however, tend to consider
of the second stage
to reflect
a single
cultural
experienced
only a few changes through the whole
cemetery's life.
Thus, the early stage of the cemetery
small number of flint
artifacts,
such as fragments
microliths
(Fig. 37, 11-13).
development of
the grave goods
complex which
period of the
includes only a
of blades and
The character
of finds from the Nikolskoye cemetery indicates
that
the final stage exceeds the limits of the Neolithic and may be assigned
to the Eneolithic.
Data bearing on the absolute age of the Nikolskoye cemetery are very
scarce.
We have only two radiocarbon dates obtained from human bones
by the Kiev radiocarbon
laboratory:
3690+400 and 2670+120 years b.c.
In the first case, the bones were collected
in the lower part of pit E.
In the second, they were collected
in pit 3 during the first season's
excavation.
The interval
between the two dates is approximately
1000
years.
Proceeding from a typological
comparison of the materials,
the
first
date may be considered to be more reasonable.
This conclusion
103
102
is
A
in
of
Chapter 4
GENERAL
CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE BURIALRITES
All the cemeteries of the Mariupol type in the Dnieper valley are flatgrave cemeteries.
These monuments were generally
discovered in the
eroded banks of the Dnieper.
All of them, with one exception
(Sobachky),
were outside
the settlements.
These were collective
cemeteries
including tens and even more than a hundred burials each.
Altogether,
in 14 cemeteries of this type in the Dnieper valley there
were uncovered about 800 burials:
Derei vka - 173; Nikolskoye - 137;
Vovnigy II - 130; Yasinovatka - 68; Lysaya Gora - 50; Vilnyanka - 50;
Vovnigy I - 31; Kapulovka - 25; Vasilyevka V - 37; Sobachky - 14;
Osipovka - 10; Chaply - 16; Maryevka - 15; and Nenasytets - 9. In
addition,
a few Neolithic
burials were also uncovered on Vinogradny
island, Igren peninsula, Kamenolomnya island, etc.
Despite some differences
in the burial rites,
all the cemeteries of
this type have a number of distinguishing
features:
(1) extended
position of the dead; (2) group burial;
(3) the presence of ochre in
the graves;
( 4) a specific
set of grave goods in the absence of
pottery.
Position of the Deceased
All the burials
of the Mariupol type reflect
a specific
method of
positioning
the dead. Only in some cases, there were noticed traces of
fire accompanying the burial rite,
and this will be discussed later.
But cremation itself
as a burial rite was never used here.
With few exceptions,
all the deceased were in the extended supine
position.
Legs were straight
and usually closed, arms at sides, hands
near or on the pelvis.
Usually, the deadwere laid facing up and only
in a few cases were the heads turned to the left or to the right.
This
may suggest that deviant positions
of bones and skulls are accidental
by nature and cannot bear ritual interpretation.
Attention is drawn to the fact that in most cases, the skeletons are
heavily contracted at their sides: arms are close to the trunk and the
skulls are in such positions
as if the heads were drawn into the
shoulders,
while the feet are straight
with toes pointed and also
closed (Figs. 16,1; 22,3; 47). Such a position indicates
that the dead
were either tightly
bound or wrapped.
In some cases, they seemed to
have been squeezed into a narrow pit.
Among the whole mass of burials,
only a few deviate from the general
norm. Thus, for instance,
in some of the group graves the skeletons
placed at the ends of a row did not lie in the supine position
but
nearly on their sides (Dereivka, Vilnyanka).
As has been mentioned
above, the uppermost burials in two of the group grave pits ( A and E)
of the Nikolskoye cemetery (one skeleton per each grave) seemed to have
been deposited in the contracted position,
so when excavated, the long
bones of the legs were found in a 'rhombic' position
(Fig.48).
It is
probable that the burial under the mound No. 18/68 of the Nikolskoye
cemetery was also in the contracted
supine position.
Besides, it is
interesting
to note that one of the deceased in this cemetery (skeleton
No. 59) had its right hand on the chest.
It is probable that both this
104
105
;,
Fig.
47
heavily
contracted
from Vasilyevka
V (1)
2
Fig.
106
48
Nikolskoye
cemetery.
Burials
107
in pit
wide, i.e.,
they corresponded to the number of the dead. The number of
skeletons
contained
in such a pit-hollow
ranged from 2-3 to 10-13
individuals
deposited in two or three layers.
Grave pits of this type
were best represented at Vilnyanka and Yasinovatka (type A), Nikolskoye
(grave pits B, r, /l, E ) , and also Sobachky and some other cemeteries
(Figs. 1,2; 15; 28; 48).
Though the grave pits were used repeatedly,
the previously
buried dead were not usually destroyed.
However, in
some cases among the skeletons
lying in anatomical order, there were
also found accumulations of individual
human bones.
The fill of these
pits was usually grey in colour, which resulted from mixing loess with
soil and subsoil.
Besides the group burials in such pit-hollows
whose
outlines
could be clearly
traced,
there were frequently
coliective
burials
(2-4 skeletons)
where the pit contours were not seen at all.
Such collective
burials
were found, for example, in the Maryevka,
Nenasytets, Sobachky and some other cemeteries.
case and those instances in the Nikolskoye cemetery where the dead were
buried in the extended position
lying on their
side should all be
considered accidental.
As for those buried in a contracted
supine
position,
these may be ancestral
to the type of burial that was widespread in the Eneolithic-Bronze
Age. A slightly
contracted
position
was also observed for burial No. 53 in the main grave pit of the
Mariupol cemetery (Makarenko 1933, 86) and there was a single sitting
burial in the Dereivka cemetery (No.41).
Orientation
of the Dead
This was rather stable, i.e.,
all the dead were oriented with heads in
the same direction
in either
all the burials
or individual
burial
groups of a particular
cemetery.
Thus, for instance,
in the Vovnigy I
(left bank) cemetery all the burials were oriented with heads nearly
precisely to the S while in Vovnigy II they were oriented to the NWand
in Maryevka - to the NE.
In Nikolskoye cemetery nearly all the
deceased were oriented in the same W direction,
and only a few single
burials lay in a SE-NWdirection.
One skeleton was oriented to the N
(Fig .35).
In some other cases, the orientation
of individual
burial
groups in a cemetery could differ.
Thus, for instance,
in the Dereivka
cemetery the dead were oriented to the W, SW and more rarely NE and N.
In the Vilnyanka cemetery, all the deceased in the red-coloured
grave
pits lay in a N-S line,
while the rest were at an angle to this
direction
(Fig.
13).
The main burial
groups of the Yasinovatka
cemetery were also oriented differently
(Fig.27).
109
The Osipovka cemetery on the Orel river yielded five grave pits,
which contained the remains of three to 11 skeletons
each (Figs. 2123). All the skeletons in these grave pits were out of anatomical order
to say from where
and in secondary positions.
But it is difficult
they were transported.
We can only note
that all the skeletons and
skulls were badly damaged and as a rule the mandibles were missing.
Analysis of bones from certain
grave pits showed that the number of
long bones did not correspond to that of the skulls, while small bones
were missing nearly altogether.
The grave pits with secondary burials
in the Osipovka cemetery represent
a special type of collective
grave
pit of the Dnieper-Donets culture.
,, 8
\,Jt/>p
I--:
In addition
to group burials
in the pit-hollows
and burials
in the
row-trenches
and the collective
graves, the cemeteries
often included
single burials.
Such single burials
were noticed in nearly all the
cemeteries.
Many of them were found, for instance,
in Vasilyevka V,
Sobachky, Chaply, Vovnigy II, Vilnyanka, Dereivka and in some other
cemeteries.
The outlines
of such single burials could not usually be
traced.
But if the contour was visible,
it was usually suboval in
shape.
All the skeletons
were in positions
typical
for their
particular
cemetery.
The evolution
of the burial
rite
in the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
generally
followed the following sequence: first,
burials in the pithollows of the A-type then in row-trenches
followed by collective
graves of the B-type.
This process culminated in an expansion of
single burials.
However, single burials were sporadically
deposited at
a much earlier
time.
Here we have considered only the principal
outline of the development
of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries,
which until
now could not be so
clearly
and directly
traced.
In some of the cemeteries
such as
Vasilyevka V, single burials seemed to predominate prior to the period
of the trench-graves.
However, the collective
graves were not always
110
,'-~.
4..L.f
l ':;
l- "'
: C?'.
'
.,
_'l'
'-" .
'_';,,.j
: -"? !
.-.,.
'
'__:' J
/'
I,
2CM
.........
'
\
0
1'
\_
4
3
F
Fig. 49
111
At the latest
stage
in the development of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries,
however, the burial rite included the use of real fire.
This fact is evident from finds such as heavily burnt skeletons in the
Nikolskoye, Lysaya Gora and Osipovka cemeteries.
Such burnt skeletons
were unearthed in grave pits
and
in the Nikolskoye cemetery, and
also in three accumulations of human bones in the Lysaya Gora cemetery
and in burial No.53 of Osipovka.
The Nikolskoye cemetery may be taken as an example to illustrate
the
way of employing fire in the burial rite.
It is probable that prior to
carrying
the dead body into the burial
hut, a flat
surface was
prepared.
Therefore,
the remains of the previously
buried dead were
moved apart or even thrown out of the pit.
Then, on the prepared
surface,
there was made a purification
fire comparatively
large in
size.
When the fire burnt down, the surface was covered with a layer
of clay about 2-5 cm. thick to suit the size of the dead body. After
the body was positioned
on the surface,
it was entirely
covered with
powdered red ochre.
As mentioned above, the paired burial of an adult
and child was the last burial in the 3-pit of the Nikolskoye cemetery.
In Nikolskoye and Lysaya Gora, the area about the grave pits was
intensely coloured in red.
However, the degree of colouration
was not
always the same. The colouration
was most intense near and over the
grave pits in the centre of the cemetery. In the Nikolskoye cemetery, a
high concentration
of ochre was also noticed in the hollows.
In some
places,
there were also noticed small accumulations
of ochre in the
form of diffused
blobs.
Towards the margins of the cemetery, the
intensity
of the colour declined sharply.
All the grave goods found in the cemeteries may be divided into the
following categories:
ornaments, tools and weapons, and ceramics.
The
complete enumeration of these finds from each of the cemeteries has
been given above with the descriptions
and in the accompanying tables.
112
Ornaments.
The following types of ornaments have been recovered:
Cyprinidae teeth, pendants of immature deer teeth (Figs. 29.; 50,2) and
numerous flat annular beads (Figs. 39, 1-10; 50,1).
Plates of boar
tusk enamel of the so-called
Mariupol type (Figs. 30; 36) were much
less common. In some of the burials,
there were found cylindrical
beads made of limestone or gagate (Fig. 39, 12-14).
It is also probable that fish teeth, deer tooth pendants, beads and
plates of the Mariupol type were used either as applications
on clothes
and foot-wear or as components of necklaces.
Examples of this may be
seen in burial Nos. 20, 29, 32, 34, 35, etc. of the Vilnyanka cemetery,
where such ornaments occurred in two's or three's,
or lay in rows as a
head dress for the deceased, or on the chest or above the knees.
In
one case, there were two rows of fish teeth sewn on the hem of a dress.
In a few cases, pendants of deer teeth were found on the feet of the
deceased and seemed to be ornaments for foot-wear.
The decorative
effect of some of the deer tooth pendants was improved by transversal
incisions
(Fig. 2,23).
It is also probable that in some cases such
pendants were used as buttons.
This is evident from the Yasinovatka
cemetery, where they lay in a row along the vertebral
column and all
had their widest end to the same side (Fig. 49,4).
Pendants of deer
teeth seemed to be valuable decorations
since in some cases they were
simulated in bone (Fig. 17, 18).
The flint
artifacts
are represented
by knives and knife-like
blades
ranging from microlithic
to comparatively large in size (Figs. 9; 38),
and also various scrapers such as rounded scrapers on both small and
large flakes (Fig. 37, 5-9). There are comparatively large amounts of
microlithic
artifacts
such as trapezes mainly of medium size and in
some cases with flaked backs ( Figs 2 , 8 ; 31 , 1-4) The latter
were
found in Vovnigy II (five pieces), Maryevka (one), Vasilyevka V (one),
Vilnyanka (three) and Yasinovatka (four).
In Yasinovatka,
there were
also found various points and blades (Fig. 35, 5-10).
In the Nikolskoye cemetery, there were found seven large-sized
spearpoints varying in shape and having bifacial
retouch (Fig. 37, 1-4, 6).
A similar spear-point
was found in one of the Dereivka burials.
Among
the single flint artifacts,
only a nucleus (Kapulovka) and a fragment
of a stone axe from Nikolskoye cemetery (Fig. 37, 10) are worthy of
notice.
It is interesting
to note that the flint inventory
earlier
cemeteries
differs
significantly
from that
cemeteries of the later period.
The life time of stone maces was very long. Among some groups of
people in the Old World, such an article
as the mace, used both as a
weapon and a symbol of authority,
appeared rather
early ( the 4th
millennium BC) and was used through the whole of antiquity
(Telegin
1968, 149-151). Proceeding from this statement and taking into account
that there is no close analogy to the mace from Nikolskoye II, it may
be concluded that the significance
of this find as a chronological
indicator
is rather limited.
The Mariupol-type
artifacts
of bone collected
in the Dnieper valley
are also few in number. They were only found in small amounts in such
cemeteries as Vilnyanka (two awls and a spear-point
in Fig. 17, 10-12)
and Dereivka (a harpoon and a 'spoon-bait'
in Fig. 12, 4, 12). Besides,
a few bone pieces with marks of working were collected
in the Vovnigy
II and Yasinovatka cemeteries.
A spear-point,
probably made of antler
(Fig. 12, 6), was found between the ribs of a skeleton in Kapulovka. As
mentioned above, a few bracelets
made of bone were found in Vasilyevka
II.
114
in the
in the
Stone tools
are few in number and were recovered
only in the
Nikolskoye cemetery (Fig. 37, 14). The description
of these tools,
including a mace, a mortar-grindstone,
axes and adzes has already been
given above. The mace (Fig. 37, 15) is, of course, the most interesting
and important find. It plays an important role in understanding
the
cultural
relations
between the population of the Azov steppe at the end
of the Neolithic
and the beginning of the Eneoli thic, which extended
far to the south-east,
i.e. in the Don valley and the North Caucasus.
It is probable, as N. Makarenko (1933, 33) suggested,
that cross-like
maces primarily
penetrated
into the North Caucasus and the steppe
regions of Eastern Europe from Mesopotamia.
It may be concluded that the copper ornaments and the gold pendant
found in the latest
burials
of the Nikolskoye cemetery point to
contacts
between the people living
in the Dnieper valley
in the
Neolithic
time and the Eneolithic
Tripolye culture of the Right-Bank
Ukraine.
This makes it possible
to synchronize the monuments under
study with the early period of the Tripolye culture.
collected
collected
115
The overwhelming
(axe, spear-points,
the local Neolithic
the Dnieper valley.
majority
of the flint,
stone and bone artifacts
knives, etc.) have analogies among the inventory of
settlements
of the Comb-Stroked Pottery culture of
Chapter 5
CHRONOLOGY,
BELIEFS ANDSOCIALRELATIONSHIPS
ijikolskoye
Ceramics.
These were mainly collected
in two cemeteries:
and Lysaya Gora. Sherds of about 200 vessels have been found (Fi_gs. 9;
40; 44). Two large-sized
vessels in fragments were also found in ~he
Dereivka cemetery (Fig. 12, 11), sherds were recovered from the Vovnigy
I and Yasinovatka cemeteries,
two sherds were found in the fill
of a
grave pit in Kapulovka and one sherd was found at Vovnigy II.
Periodization
of the Cemeteries
On the basis of the facts reviewed so far, it is reasonable to suggest
that
some of
the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
functioned
for
a
comparatively
long time. It is probable that in some cases there were
short
interruptions
in their
use but the total
length of their
functioning
period was rather extensive.
These burial monuments were
far from being contemporaneous.
This has also been observed by A. V.
Dobrovolsky and A. D. Stolyar (1955).
The most complete periodization
of the Neolithic
cemeteries
in the area of the Dnieper rapids was
advanced by A. D. Stolyar
(1955).
Despite a limited
amount of
information
(six cemeteries),
he was generally
correct in determining
the chronological
sequence of the cemeteries.
Thus, recent studies
have provided
support
for relating
the Nenasytets
and Maryevka
cemeteries
to the early period and also for associating
the single
burials
in Chaply, Igren-8 and some other places to the last period.
The chronological
relationship
between Vovnigy I and Vovnigy II does
require some refinement.
Because of the limited stratigraphic
data,
A.D. Stolyar placed each of the cemeteries in the area of the Dnieper
rapids on a single chronological
plane which is not quite correct as is
evident from more recent studies.
A complete typological
analysis
of the ceramics from each of ~he
sites
has been given above. It should only be noted that ceramics
collected
within the limits of the cemeteries and in the fill
of the
grave pits,
i.e.,
chronologically
confined
to a single
cultural
complex, are not uniform. If the main mass of the vessels from ~he
Nikolskoye and Lysaya Gora cemeteries and also fragments from Vovnigy
are related
in all respects
to the Sredny Stag I type, the fragments
from Yasinovatka II are ty.pologically
related
to a greater extent to
the ceramics typical
of the Sobachky and Vovnigy settlements.
This
difference
should be considered as chronological.
Only the fragments of
vessels from Dereivka which are analogous to the pottery of the Middle
Dnieper (Buzky, Mutykhy, Pishchiky, etc.) are typologically
related to
another (Cherkassy) type of the Dnieper-Donets culture.
Analyses of the burial
rite and grave goods of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries is of considerable
importance in elucidating
the chronology
and the cultural
relationship
of the sites.
These will be discussed in
the next chapter.
Our analysis
of the
considerably
upon both
their absolute age.
cemeteries
has made it possible
to improve
this periodization
and the determination
of
According to typological
characteristics,
the flint artifacts
may be
divided into two general groups 'a' and 'b'.
The first
or earlier
group 'a' includes only small-sized
pieces, such as medium and smallsized blades, knives on similar blanks, small subrounded scrapers on
flakes and also microlithic
artifacts
such as trapezes,
blunt-backed
and truncated
points,
etc.
Trapezes with retouched backs~ that is
trapezes
of the latest
type, were also common among the finds.
The
flint
artifacts
of this group were mainly represented
in the pithollows of the A-type (Fig.20) and the row-trenches
(Fig. 2, 8, 9, 1517).
In one case, small microlithic
flint fragments were collected
in
the fill of a pit of the B-type (Fig.31).
Flint artifacts
of the second group 'b' are massive.
They include
large-sized
blades of the 'Eneolithic'
type, knives and scrapers on
blanks and spear-points
with bifacial
retouch.
The flint artifacts
of
the second group were best represented
in the Nikolskoye and the Lysaya
Gora cemeteries,
where they were associated
with burials
in graves of
the B-type and the red-coloured
soil within these cemeteries
(Figs. 9,
37, 38).
116
117
..
Fig.
50
Ceramics,
which appear here only in the latest
development of the cemeteries,
are of great importance
the chronology of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries.
stages
in the
in establishing
118
)
119
cemetery,
type.
CEMETERY
STAGE
C
- ..
Ml.be
Early
Mill.be
Vilnyanka
Oereivka
Chaply
Sobachky
Nikolskoye, pit 6.JI
2 Mariupol
Lysaya Gora, pits
1-V
Oereivka, pit I
Vovnigy I
Yasinovatka; pit 6
1 Osipovka
Vilnyanka, pit 6
Vovnigy 2
Kapulovka
2 Nikolskoye, pits &.r
Nenasytets
Vilnyanka, pit A
Yasinovatka, pit A
Vasilyevka 5
1 Maryevka
Vasilyevka 2
Sobachky, pits 1,2
~ gf
2
@
4
- --
~ tl ~ 8e
!ii
ti
10
- -- -- --- ~---- --
Band
the southern
part
!3
,,
are assigned
to the A-
121
120
of pit
-- --- - .
---------- - - -- - --- - - - - -- --- - - -:
-- - - -
--
~th
4th
~,
pit
Ceramic artifacts
were not present in all the cemeteries
of this
stage.
They were not found in such cemeteries
as Vilnyanka (B-type
pits) and Osipovka and they were only present in a few fragments in
Yasinovatka and Vovnigy I. The cemeteries of a later period exhibiting
collective
grave pits were accompanied with vessels in fragments, e.g.
Dereivka (pit I), Nikolskoye, Lysaya Gora. As mentioned above, in the
last two cemeteries remains of about 200 vessels were collected.
From all of this we can
stage, may be subdivided into
B, as with
the
previous
g
6
Phase B-2 includes such cemeteries as Nikolskoye (grave pits 5and 3),
Lysaya Gora and Dereivka (grave pit I), where there were found plates
of the Mariupol type of various forms, and a number of Neolithic
vessels in fragments.
In two cases (Nikolskoye and Lysaya Gora), the
burial ritual
was accompanied by the use of fire.
This suggests that
the group burials
of skulls
in Osipovka also belong to the latest
cemeteries
of the B-stage.
This cemetery as well as the Mariupol
cemetery itself
were the furthest
from the basic region of our
investigations
and
they
may be characterized
by some local
distinguishing
features.
As far as the Mariupol cemetery is concerned,
in general it may be assigned to the second phase of the late B-stage
of such cemeteries,
probably to its very end.
12
11
18
17
1
13
~8
21
19
122
~9
The chronological
relationships
between the single burials
in the
cemeteries of the Mariupol type and the burials of stages A and B may
also be determined on the basis of stratigraphic
observations,
for
example, in such cemeteries as Sobachky, Dereivka, Vilnyanka, etc.
In
Sobachky one of the single burials
(No.4) completely overlay a group
grave (No.1), as seen in Fig. 1, 1.
In Derei vka, a single burial
(No.134) cut a number of differently
oriented
burials
in the VI row
(Fig. 13).
But the clearest
demonstration
of the latest
age of the
~ 30
Fig.
52
23
22
24
The
and
19,
17,
and
25
26
27
8
28
0
OD
31
32
29
<
123
single burials
can be found in the Vilnyanka . cem?tery, where eight
single graves lay in the upper part of the subsoil,
i.e._, above all the
other burials.
Two of the burials
(Nos. 4 and 5) di~ec~ly over~ay
grave pits A-2 and 6-2 of an earlier
age (Fig. 15). It is i~teresting
to note that among the upper burials
in the main grave pit of the
Mariupol cemetery, a tendency towards individualization
may be clearly
traced.
In concluding
this
discussion
of the problem of dividing
the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
into periods,
it shoul? be noted _tha_t the
development of the burial ritual was rather complicated,
and it is not
always possible
to interpret
it
satisfactorily
in all
respec~s.
Therefore
account must be taken of the burials
in contracted
supine
positions'found
in the pit hollows A and E of the Niko~skoye c~meter!,
and of a spear-point
found in one of these
pits,
which ~s
chronologically
inconsistent
with the burial ritual
typical
for this
pit and is better associated
with the B-type p~ts.
If these facts are
not accidental,
it is possible to assume that in some cases, con~urrent
with the B-type grave pits,
individual
round pits were also in use.
The collective
grave in the Lysaya Gora cemetery and als~ the g~ave
pits in Osipovka were very complicated in shape, and their outlines
were far from rectangular.
The Mariupol-type
grave pit is also distinguished
by a certain
peculiarity
and resembles a row-trench.
All this once more poin~s ~o
the complexity of development of the burial rites among the Neolithic
population in the Dnieper valley and the Azov region.
_It is probable
that local distinctive
characteristics
also played an important part,
and for understanding
them an accumulation
of additional
facts is
required.
. .
.
Cultural Identity
One of the problems in studying the history of the Neolithic population
of the Dnieper valley
is the problem of determining
the cultural
identity
of the Mariupol-type cemeteries and their correlation
with the
Neolithic
population
of this
region
in a single
cultural
and
chronological
complex.
As is known, N. Makarenko (1933),
the pioneer in studying
the
cemeteries of the Mariupol type, attributed
the cemetery he studied to
the Neolithic
period as a whole, since at that time. studi~s ?f. ~he
Neolithic
burial monuments in the Ukraine were only in their initial
stage and the problems of cultural
relationships
were not even
considered.
Moreover, the problem of the cultural
identity
of the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
could not be solved without ceramics which
could be correlated
with the burials.
The problem of the cultural
identity
of the Mariupol-type cemeteries
was first
raised by A.D. Stolyar (1955) who based his studies on the
many burial monuments known in the area of the Dnieper rapids starting
from the lower horizons of the Igren-8 (horizons E, El) to the upper
(second layer) of Sredny Stog. All these buria~ monumen~s were grou~ed
by him into a single cultural
unit named the Dnieper rapids/Azov-region
Neolithic.
Besides the Vovnigy sites,
Sobachy, Volchek, Sredny Stog I,
etc.,
this group also included such monuments as ~gr~n-8 _(now ~learly
seen to be Mesolithic)
and Sredny Stog II, an Eneolithic
site which has
little
in common with the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
from the classical
point of view.
M. Ya. Rudynsky (1956) was more careful
when he
determined the cultural
identity
of the Vovnigy I cemetery.
He took
into account the analysis
of the comb-stroked ceramics and compared
this cemetery with the other Neolithic Vovnigy cemeteries.
With regard
to the Neolithic
monuments of the Lower Dnieper and the Azov region,
point
of view and
V.N. Danilenko
held
a somewhat different
distinguished
two separate cultures:
the Azov-region culture and the
Azov-Dnieper culture (Danilenko 1969,9-18; 1974, 36-40).
On the basis
of the published work, it is difficult
to give any credence to the
first of these two definitions.
As far as the second cultural
group is
concerned,
it is one of the variants
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
(Telegin 1968; 1969) or the Dnieper-Donets ethno-cultural
region (E.N.
Titova 1985).
Taking into account the above-mentioned terminological
discordances
and the fact
that
the cemeteries
under investigation
have been
discovered
in the territory
of three local Neolithic
entities
(or
cultures
according
to E.N. Titova)
represented
by comb-stroked
ceramics,
the solution
to the problem of the cultural
assignment of
these Ukrainian burial monuments cannot be unambiguous.
First of all,
the wide-spread opinion that all the Mariupol-type cemeteries belong to
the Dnieper rapids
or the Azov-Dnieper variant
(culture)
of the
Neolithic
is groundless.
This conclusion follows both from the fact
that cemeteries of this type were situated
in the territory
of three
Dnieper-Donets
Neolithic
variants
(the Dnieper rapids,
Cherkassy and
Donets) and from a comparative analysis
of the ceramics found in the
cemeteries and local Neolithic
settlements
near the Dnieper rapids, in
the region of Cherkassy and the North Donets.
In the vicinity
of the Dnieper rapids,
there are four cemeteries
accompanied by sherds
(Vovnigy I, Yasinovatka)
or broken v~ssels
(Nikolskoye, Lysaya Gora).
A detailed description
of these finds (from
Yasinovatka and Nikolskoye, in particular)
has already been provided.
Here we only wish to emphasize that the whole mass of pottery found in
the cemeteries
is related
to the comb-stroked pottery typical for the
local Dnieper-rapids/Azov
region variant of the Dnieper-Donets culture.
It is probable that the pottery from the different
cemeteries is not
quite contemporaneous.
Thus, the finds from Yasinovatka and Vovnigy I,
in terms of cultural
and chronological
relationships,
are more closely
related
to such burial monuments as Sobachky, while the vessels from
Lysaya Gora and Nikolskoye are directly
comparable to the ceramics from
Sredny Stog I.
According to our periodization,
these two types of
ceramics are related
to stages Ila and IIb of the Dnieper-Donets
culture.
Thus, stage B of the cemeteries may by generally related to
the
Dnieper-Donets
Neolithic
period.
It
is
probable
that
chronologically
and in terms of the cultural
development, the B-1 stage
to the subperiod Ila of the settlements
of the cemeteries co~sponds
and stage B-2 of the cemeteries corresponds to the subperiod IIb of the
settlements
(Table 2).
The Derei vka cemetery and the local settlements
of the Cherkassy
group are also related by common ceramic finds.
The vessels found in
Dereivka may be typologically
compared with finds from such settlements
in the Cherkassy region as Buzky and Mutykhy, which, along with such
settlements
as Sobachky and Sredny Stog I in the area of the Dnieper
rapids, are related to the second stage of the Dnieper-Donets Neolithic
period.
We might add that recently
I. F. Kovaleva has unearthed a
125
124
H
H
H
,..0
H
H
H
H
l
.i.:
>
0
Q..
,..;
rt.l
In conclusion,
the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
in the Dnieper rapidsAzov, Cherkassy and the Donets regions should be attributed
to three
regional
variants
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
the Dnieperrapids/Azov region, the Cherkassy and the Donets variants.
N
Q)
,-I
,..0
H
rt.l
.
i::
00
0
.
>-.
Cf.l
Q)
.i.: .i.:
>-.
Q)
u~
i::
"Cl
,..0 ,-I
Q)
0 0
1-4
Cf.l
Cf.l
>
co
>-. 8
00
,..;
Q)
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i::
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.
Absolute Chronology
The problem of the cultural
attribution
of the Mariupol-type cemeteries
is connected with the problem of determining their absolute age. Among
these cemeteries the age of the B-2 type monuments is best dated.
We
have in mind the Tripolye vessel of the Borisovka type found in the
Nikolskoye cemetery.
The latter
belongs to the transition
period from
Tripolye A to stage B-1. The synchronization
of the latest burials in
the Nikolskoye cemetery with the early stage of the Tripolye culture is
also confirmed by an analysis of the copper artifacts
(Chernykh 1966).
Q)
,-I
,-I
...;
8
This 'reference'
point enables us to attribute
the cemeteries of the
B-2 stage to the first half of the 4th millennium b.c.
This conclusion
is in good agreement with the radiocarbon dates obtained at the Kiev
laboratory
for the following cemeteries:
Nikolskoye cemetery (pit 3) 3690400; Yasinovatka (pit B) - 3850 300; Osipovka (burial No. 53) 3990 . 420, 4125 400 years b.c.
The unusual bone ornament (Fig.
23,3), which was found in the collective
grave of the Osipovka cemetery
and is analgous to the finds from the layers of the first half of the
,..0
127
126
also
in
The cultural
and chronological
placement of the B-2 stage cemeteries
makes it possible
to determine approximately
the chronology of the
other two stages.
If we take into account a direct
relationship
between the three stages of the cemeteries,
one may conclude that, in
terms of culture
and chronology,
the cemeteries
of stages A and B-1
should to some extent correspond to the first
period of stage II-a of
the Dnieper-Donets culture in the area of the Dnieper rapids, while the
single burials
of stage C follow the latest
monuments of the Sredny
Stog II type (Telegin
1968).
It is probable that they should be
understood as a relic phenomenon of the Dnieper-Donets culture relating
to the Early Eneolithic
period.
Therefore,
the cemeteries of the A-Bl
stage may be chronologically
assigned to the end of the 5th millennium
- the first
quarter of the 4th millennium b.c., and the latest
stage C
should be assigned to the beginning of the second half of the 4th
millennium b.c.
On the whole, the cemeteries of the Mariupol type are
dated to the end of the 5th - beginning of the second half of the 4th
millennium b.c.
0
Fig.
53 Mariupol-type
burials from the latest stage (C) from the
cemeteries of Alexandria (1) and Zasukha (2).
128
129
vault.
It is probable that the skulls were held sacred and venerated.
It should be noted that in most cases the skulls had no mandibles
(Osipovka).
All this points to the formation of the cult of the skull,
which was widely spread,
according
to ethnographic
data,
among
primitive people.
Thus, for example, the Golds (a small nationality
in
Siberia)
save skulls
of their
fathers
and grandfathers,
while the
Yukagirs
and the Nenetz people
save shaman's
heads or skulls
(Vedetskaya 1980).
Therefore,
it is interesting
to note that in the
most ancient (first)
burial of the Vovnigy I cemetery the skull was
missing, while the other bones of the skeleton were well preserved
(Rudynsky 1956, fig.8).
Burials of separate skulls are also known in
the cultures of the Near East such as Mureybit and Abu-Hureyra (Merpert
and Munchayev 1984, 311).
The Neolithic
people of the Dnieper valley believed deeply in the
magical power of fire.
In addition,
they believed in red ochre as a
substitute
for fire
and powdered the dead with it.
A detailed
description
of red ochre as a symbol of the hearth, blood or fire has
been given in literature
(Okladnikov 1950, 407-409), therefore,
it will
be omitted from our description.
As far as real fire is concerned,
where traces have been noticed in the burials of the latest
stages of
the cemeteries,
its role may be interpreted
in two ways.
On the one
hand, fire was used primarily
for clearing
the grave pit out of foul
odours and, hence, to perform a sort of disinfection.
On the other
hand, the magical power attributed
to fire played the part of a cleaner
and defender of man. The use of fire for such a purpose in the burial
rite of primitive people is widely known from ethnographic sources.
The information obtained from the burials can throw some light on the
world view of the Neolithic
population
in the territory
under
investigation,
in particular,
their understanding
of the soul in the
other world.
The presence of tools in the graves points to the belief
that the dead will continue to live in the next world in the same way
as they lived before death, that is, they will continue to occupy
themselves in hunting or fishing,
make tools and need the ornaments
they used to wear in this world.
It is probable
that
by the final
period of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries,
the people began celebrating
something of a funeral feast.
This may be evidenced by a great number of vessels found in the area of
such cemeteries
as Nikolskoye and Lysaya Gora.
It is probable that
these vessels were used for transporting
food and drink.
In addition,
the red-coloured
soil of the Nikolskoye cemetery contained indiyidual
bones and teeth of a bull and a horse, whose flesh was eaten during the
feast.
According to the custom of that time, the vessels were ritually
wasted by being broken and this is evident
from the presence
of
regularly
rounded holes in the bottoms of the vessels probably made by
a solid object.
Such holes may be formed only when the blow is
delivered intentionally
and heavily.
It is probable that, as mentioned
above, this custom was adopted from the Near Eastern cultures.
It is
interesting
to note that the custom of breaking vessels at the grave
has also been noticed in some other cultures of the Bronze Age, such as
the Tshinets culture.
The material
from the cemeteries suggests only the initial
forms of
social
differentiation
among the Neolithic
society
in the Dnieper
valley.
The equality
of all the members of the tribal
community was
130
131
Chapter 6
THE CULTURAL
ANDHISTORICALPOSITION OF THE MARIUPOL-TYPE
CEMETERIES
The Mariupol-type
cemeteries
have been repeatedly
discussed
by many
investigators.
In his own time, N. Makarenko (1933) assigned Mariupol
to the Neolithic.
He was absolutely
right when he distinguished
two
parts: the first
(main) group included all the burials in the main pittrench, and the second group was represented
by burials
in contracted
positions
(Nos. 21, 24, etc.).
The association
of the latter
with a
specific
chronological
group has become obvious only recently
as a
result
of distinguishing
the Novodanilovka-type
Eneolithic
cemeteries
in the south of the Ukraine (Telegin 1985).
In the 1950's the Mariupol cemetery and the other known cemeteries of
this type in the area of the Dnieper rapids were studied by A.D.
Stolyar (1955) who was the first
to divide these burial monuments into
periods and determine their cultural
relationship.
The question of the
place
occupied
by
the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
among other
contemporaneous monuments in Eurasia has been discussed in two studies
by the author (Telegin 1966; 1968, 185-189).
The Mariupol cemetery has drawn the attention
of many foreign
investigators
as well.
Thus, M. Garasanin pointed to the relationship
between this
burial
monument and the evidence
for ancient
steppe
influence
on the Balkans which is best represented
in the cemetery of
Decea Muresului.
The cultural
and chronological
agreement between the
Mariupol cemetery and the Decia cemetery was also remarked by A.
Hausler (1962, 1067).
At present,
the question of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
has come
into importance because of the problem of the relationship
between the
Dnieper-Donets
culture
in the Dnieper valley and the TRB culture
in
northern Europe (Lichardus 1976; ijausler 1981; Dolukhanov and Tretyakov
1974).
However, these relationski.ips
were discussed
on the basis of
relatively
limited information
both because of the lack of published
data on the Mariupol-type
cemeteries of the Ukraine and because of the
limited number of burial monuments in the adjacent territories.
For the last
10-15 years,
the situation
in this field
has been
consider~
improved.
In addition
to the well-known Mesolithic
and
Neolithic
cemeteries,
numbers of monuments of similar
age have been
discovered
in various places of Eurasia.
Here should be mentioned
first
of all the excavations
of a Neolithic
cemetery near the village
of S 'ezzheye on the Lower Volga and a number of cemeteries
in the
forest zone of the European part of the U.S.S.R.,
in the east of the
Bal tic Sea areas and Karelia:
Popovo, Vladychino,
Zveinieky,
Abora,
Kratuonas, Syamozero, etc.
Of particular
interest
are the MesolithicNeolithic
cemeteries
with burials
in extended positions
found in
Denmark (Vedbaek), Lower Saxony (Peversdorf),
on the Middle Danube
(Schela Cladovei) and in some other places of Europe.
A great body of
information
has been obtained
on the character
of the Mesolithic,
Neolithic and Chalcolithic
burials in the lands of the Near East.
As far back as the 1960 's, the author advanced a model for the
cultural
and historical
place of the Mariupol-type
Dnieper-Donets
culture cemeteries
(Telegin 1966).
At that time we proposed the idea
132
133
135
periods
(5000-3500 years b.c.)
partly
precede
or chronologically
correspond to the Mariupol-type cemeteries of the Ukraine.
At present,
we know of
dozens of such burial monuments which usually represent
small
cemeteries.
Many burials
have also
been unearthed
in
settlements.
The first
monographic study on the monuments of this
period in Anatolia was conducted by T. Ozgiic (1948) at the end of the
1940's.
The investigator
pointed to the fact that the Chalcolithic
cemeteries
(Tilki
Tepe, Alatlible,
Kaledorug, Mashat, etc) usually
consisted
of single burials
in a contracted
position
lying on their
sides.
The position
of the deceased' s hands was not always defined,
but in most cases they were near the face.
In Anatolia, the cemeteries
of Tetekoy and Kum-tepe, for example, ~pntained only 2 percent of the
deceased in extended supine positions
(Ozgiic 1948, 84).
Here the dead
were laid simply in grave pits or in special vessels,
or cists.
The
most abundant were the burials
in vessels.
Thus, for example, in
Alishar,
among 46 Copper-Age burials
25 were in vessels
(Osten 1938
'
135).
As a rule, all the burials
were single,
and only in six or seven
cases were paired burials
encountered.
No collective
grave, which ..
could be assigned to the Neolithic-Copper
Age, is known in Anatolia.
Red ochre was very rarely used (Mersin, Tilki Tepe, Catal-Hiiyuk, etc.).
In Anatoli.?t-, .. one-third
of the burials
was accompanied with grave
goods.
T. Ozguc divides all the finds collected
near the skeletons
into three
main groups:
1) ordinary
inventory
of every-day
life
(pottery,
weapons, ornaments);
2) inventory of a religious
character
(idols);
3) finds associated
with sacrifices
or a funeral feast.
The
inventory of the first group was usually predominant.
The recent excavations of the late Neolithic and Chalcolithic
layers
of Catal-Hiiyiik, Can Hasan) have shown that, in
in Anatolia (settlementit
addition to the above de\scribed mode of burying the dead, they employed
a quite peculiar burial rite,
which involved burying the dead's bones
after their soft tissues had been cleaned by birds (Mellart 1975, 104).
In the Neolithic
and Copper Age ( the Sth-4th millennia
b .c.) among
the people of the Near East (Palestine,
Syria, Mesopotamia) and Iran,
the contracted
burial rite was predominant.
The dead were buried in
grave pits,
sepulchres
or large-sized
vessels.
The degree of
contraction
varied from slight to heavy. Contracted burial was adopted
by the people of Hassuna and Tel Halaf.
It was also employed in the
Ubaid period in the cemeteries of Ras Shamra III (Dussant 1937, 17), in
the Chalcolithic
layer of Byblos where about 500 graves were unearthed
(Contenau 1947), Yarim-Tepe (Munchayev and Merpert 1981), in the upper
layers of Tepe Gawra (Tobler 1950, 90), Sialk (Ghirshman 1938), etc.
In Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine,
burials
of this period were
discovered in the areas of settlements.
They were often found under
the floors of dwellings or under the walls of buildings.
Therefore,
such burials may be considered to be 'foundation sacrifices'.
However,
separate cemeteries were formed here comparatively early (Samarra).
Care for the dead was demonstrated by their provisioning
with grave
goods including food in clay vessels.
The latter
were discovered in a
number of cemeteries,
such as Tepe Gawra, Tel Halaf, Susa (Morgan
1927), etc.
These were single,
very rarely paired and triple burials.
137
However recently
there was discovered a cemetery of the Early Ubaid
period~
the Hakalan cemetery in Luristan - with a number of grave pits
showing repetitive
use.
In some cases, it was clearly
seen that the
remains of the earlier
burials were destroyed as a result of subsequent
burial.
Here, as in the grave pits of the Mariupol type, the dead's
bones, except for the skulls,
were moved aside or thrown out of the
graves.
Near the skeletons,
there were found vessels,
stone maces,
axes, and button-seals
(Mellart 1975, 178-179).
Concurrent
with the prevailing
rite
of burying the dead in the
contracted
position
on its
side,
burials
~n the extende~ sup~ne
position were also met among the Ubaid cemeteries of the 4th millennium
B.C. Thus, such burials were found in Ur (Woolley 1935), Susa (Morgan
1927, 51), etc.
However, it is interesting
to note that in the later
Post-Ubaid time in the lands of Mesopotamia including its south-eastern
part (Sumer), burials
in contracted-on-side
positions
again became
predominant.
Thus, in the Early Dynastic period,
in Ur there were
discovered thousands of contracted
burials.
In many cases, there was a
clay pot in the dead's hands placed near the head.
It should be noted that in Palestine
as well as in the territory
of
Anatolia in the Chalcolithic,
for instance in the Birsheba-Ghassulian
culture,
secondary burial was also practiced.
J. Mellaart associated
this with an intrusion
of immigrants.
In the lands of the Near East,
Mesopotamia and Iran, burials
sprinkled with red ochre occurred more
of ten than in Anatolia,
but in any case, they were rather
scarce.
Individual
coloured skeletons
were found only in Sialk,
Tepe-Gawra,
Hakalan, etc.
In Tepe Gawra seven of the graves were covered with
green and blue paint (Tobler 1950, 78).
The Neolithic burial rites in the North Caucasus, Caucasus and in the
areas of the Caspian Sea and in Central Asia are still
not clearly
understood.
Here have been discovered
only single burials
of that
period such as in the areas of the Lower Don and Central Asia.
In the
first
case, there were unearthed six burials
including two burials
in
extended supine positions
and four burials in contracted positions.
In
most cases,
these burials
were uncoloured
and without grave good.s
(Belanovskaya 1972).
The Neolithic burials
found in the settlement
of
Tutkaul in Central Asia were in a heavily contracted
position lying on
their side with no traces of ochre (Korobkova and Ranov 1968, 18-21).
It is probable
that during the Eneolithic,
in the Caucasus and
Central
Asia, burial
rites
were developing
under the influence
of
beliefs
coming from the Ancient East.
This is evident
from the
prevalence of burying the dead in a contracted
position on their side.
In most cases, these burials were accompanied with pottery.
Dozens of
such burials were unearthed,
for example, in the lower layer of KulTepe.
Burials
in contracted
positions
were also found in the
settlement
of Alikemek-Tepesy (Munchaev 1975, 106, 117).
A group of
early burials exhibiting
the same rite in the Nalchik cemetery was also
dated by R.M. Munchaev (1975, 138-139) to the Eneolithic.
In contrast
to the lands of the Near East, one of the distinguishing
features
of
the Eneolithic
burials
in the North Caucusus was that most of the
burials were covered with red ochre.
In some cases, there were burials
in the extended supine position,
for instance in the Lugovoye cemetery
(Krupnov 1954).
138
The rite
side, of
with red
and also
Kara-Tepe,
(
contained
grave goods, mainly in the form of clay vessels.
As
mentioned
above,
in
the
southern
regions,
the
Neolithic
and
Chalcolithic
burials
were much more rarely
in the extended position
than in the northern zone.
The cemeteries
of the southern or DanubeNear Eastern
region
were constructed
by agricultural
and cattlebreeding tribes.
110
_~
:)14
, ..
0
1----------_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_--__------~
0-~
e-
Ill
61
:~:'(}iv
tUJ
......
/
-
Fig. 54 Neolithic-Eneolithic
cemeteries
of t~e Euro~i~erian
and.
II Danube-Near Eastern regions.
I - extended supine position;
pos~tion without
contracted
position
with pottery;
III - contracted
pottery;
IV - ochred burials.
1. Ertebolle;
2. VesterbJers;
3. ?storf;
4-8. Tamula, Krautonas, Kreichy, Zveinieky,
Abora; 9-10. Oleny island;
11. Kubenino, Karavikha; 12. Popovo; 13. Sakhtysh; 14. Yazykovo; 15-18.
Gavrilovka,
Panphily, Volodary, Chernaya Gora; 19. Chu-Chur-Muransky;
20-21. Baikal cemeteries;
22. Buzky; 23. Dereivka; 24. Osipovk~,
Zasukha; 25-28. Dnieper rapids cemeteries;
29. Lysaya Gora, Kairy; 30.
Dolinka; 31. Mariupol; 32. Alexandria;
33. Rakushechny Yar; 34.
S'ezzheye;
35. Entsheim; 36. Kotsenheim, Flomborn; 38. Zonderhausen;
39. Klein-Hadersdorf;
40. Zabrouvitsy;
41. Podokhov; 42. Zengov~rkony;
43. Nezviska; 44. Troian; 45. Botos; 46. Cernica; 47-48. Hamangia,
Varna Durankulak; 49. Vinca; 50. Ruse; 51. Kubrat; 52. Karanovo; 53.
Zygouries;
54. Babakoy; 55. Alatlibel;
56. Kaledorug; 57. ~etekoy; 58.
Alishar;
59. Kasura; 60. Mersin; 61. Ras-Shamra; 62. Nalchik; 63.
Lugovoye; 64. Mingichaur; 65. Alikmektepesi;
66. Stepanake~t;
67.
Tilki-Tepe;
68. Hasuna; 69. Halaf; 70. Tepe Gawra; 71. Yarim Tep:; 72.
Samarra, Arpachiya; 73. Hakalan; 74. Sialk; 75. Susa; 76. El-Ubaid; 77.
Hissar; 78-80. Kara-tepe,
Namazga-tepe, Tutkal.
140
zoomorphic
figures,
ceramics,
etc.
The forms of vessels,
the
decorative
elements and motifs and the fabric of the pottery from the
S'ezzheye and Nikolskoye cemeteries
exhibit many more differences
than
similarities
(in most cases, different
decorative
elements and motifs,
different
tempers, the presence of beads under the rim of the vessel
from the S'ezzheye cemetery which is not found on the ceramics from the
cemeteries in the area of the Dnieper rapids).
It is doubtful
that
I. B. Vasiliev
is correct
in separating
cemeteries
of the region from the other variants
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
(the North Donets, the Middle Dnieper, etc.).
Nor is it likely
that
these monuments taken together
should be separated
from the
Neolithic
culture
of the Don basin, when they actually
form a broad
zone of related cultures.
In any case, in ceramics, there is much more
in common between the Neolithic
cemeteries
of the Dnieper and the
Middle Don basins than between the Dnieper and the Volga basins.
The cultural
relationships
between the Mariupol-type
cemeteries is of
prime importance in establishing
their historical
place.
It will be
recalled
that grave goods, pottery in particular,
collected
in the area
of the cemeteries
are fully
analogous
to the material
from three
variants
of the Neolithic
Dnieper-Donets
Comb-Stroked Ware culture
which points
to the fact
that
all
these
settlements
and buriai
monuments belonged to one and the same population.
The monuments of
the Dnieper-Donets
culture
(region)
have close
analogies
to the
mat~ria~s from th~ Middle and Lower Don basin and partly of the Volga
basin (in the region of Volgograd), where we find the monuments of the
Voronezh group (the Middle-Don culture
after
A. T. Sinyuk) and the
Orlovka type (Levenok 1973; Tretyakov 1982; Telegin 1981).
The Mariupol-type
cemeteries
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
were a
component of the vast Eurosiberian
zone of burial monuments, together
with the related
culture
of the Don valley.
They formed a single
cultural
zone,
wherein
developed
various
regional
variants
and
relationships
(Fig.SS).
In the west, the monuments of this type were
adjacent to the Tripolye culture;
in the south and south-east
they were
adjacent to the cultures
of the Rakushechny-Yar type on the Lower Don,
the Seroglazovo type in the Pre-Caspian region and the Samara type on
the Lower Volga.
The northern and north-western
neighbours of this
cultural
region were the various tribes
of the Pit-Comb Ware and the
Niemen/Nemunas Neolithic cultures.
Some archaeologists
point to a broader range of analogies,
which are
close to the Dnieper-Donets
Neolithic
culture.
Thus, for example,
according to N. N. Gurina (1973, fig.4),
the area of the 'Comb-Stroked
and Channel Ware Cultures of the Dnieper-Donets
type' (the end of the
5th beginning of the 3rd millennium b.c.)
includes
not only the Don
bas~n but also a considerable
part of the Middle Volga basin and the
basin of the Lower and Middle Kama. According to V.P. Levenok (1973,
2), the northern boundary of the Dnieper-Donets culture runs also along
the Volga valley in the area of Kazan.
In studying
the question
on the position
of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries_, _it is necessary to ~ay attention
to the conclusions made by
I. B. Vasiliev
(1981).
According to him, in the Neolithic-Eneolithic
period in the south of the European part of the USSR there should be
distinguished
a separate
cultural
region of the Mariupol type
which
basically
incl'i1?tes three cultures:
the Samara (S 'ezzheye),
the PreCaspian and the Dnieper-rapids
versions
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
(Mariupol).
There is really
much in common between the Mariupol-type
and
S'ezzheye cemeteries:
flat graves, burial in the extended position and
some co~on types of ornaments such as plates of boar tusk.
However,
as mentioned above, these three characteristics
are common for the
w~o~e northern
zone of burial monuments.
As far as the presence of
similar forms of boar tusk plates is concerned, this is an indication
of some close contacts
between the Late Neolithic
population
in the
Volga and Dni~per ba~ins.
Other finds from S'ezzheye and the Mariupoltype
cemeteries
disclose
considerable
differences,
for
instance,
No genetic
relationships
can be traced
between the Mariupol-type
cemeteries and the Mesolithic
burials in the more southerly territories
of Europe and Asia where the ritual
for burying the dead in the flexed
position
prevailed.
Flexed burials on their sides, for instance,
were
found in the Frankhthi cemetery in the Balkans (Boev 1969, 30-33), the
Natufian
cemeteries
of Wadi Fallah,
Amar, etc) in the Near East
(Mellart
1975, 37).
Similar burials
are also known in the Mesolithic
143
142
'
'
The rite
of single
burial
in the
sprinkled
with ochre was typical
for
northern Central Europe and Scandinavia.
for instance,
in the Mesolithic cemetery
graves were studied
(Albrethsen
and
Mesolithic
burials
in the cemetery of
same position (Zagorsky 1962).
extended position
and usually
the Early Holocene burials
in
This rite was well recorded,
of Vedbek in Denmark, where 22
Brinch Petersen
1976).
The
Zveinieky,
Latvia,
lay in the
Fig.
55
The Dn~per-Donets
community in the 5th-3rd millennia be
(I a-e) and its neighbours. The Comb-Stroked cultures of the
Dnieper-Volga region: Middle Don (2), Rakushechny Yar (3),
Seroglazovo (4), Volga-Ural (5) and Samara (6). The Baltic
cultures:
Narva (7) and Nieman (8). The Carpathian cultures:
LBK (9), Tripolye (10), Bug-Dniester (11). The Azov-Caspian
cultures:
Sursky (12), Mountain Crimea (13), ElshankaKoshelaka (14). Pit-Comb pottery cultures
(15).
144
From the point of view of genesis, the fact that at the latest stage
of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
the group graves were converted into
collective
burial vaults may be evaluated in two ways: either it was a
process of internal
development of the burial rite,
or this custom was
adopted from somewhere outside.
Nothing is known about such burial
vaults in the northern part of the Eurosiberian
region, but they are
met in the Trans-Caucasian
and Near Eastern cultures.
A close analogy
to the Mariupol and Nikolskoye burial vaults is found, for example, in
the cemetery of Hakalan of the Mehmeh culture in Khuzistan dated to the
second half of the 5th and the beginning of the 4th millennium b.c.
The grave pits in these cemeteries
covered with stone blocks were
intended for repetitive
use, the bones of the previously
buried dead
being discourte0"1Wly moved aside or thrown out, but the skulls were
left in place (Mellaart
1975, 178).
Analogous situations
where the
remains of the dead previously buried in a collective
grave were moved
aside,
have also been noticed in some other cemeteries
(Catal Hiiyiik,
Byblos, etc.).
Therefore,
the primary source for the burial rite (extended position
of skeletons and use of ochre) in the Mariupol-type
cemeteries is to be
found in the ritual
of the Late Palaeolithic-Mesolithic
populations
in
the more northerly
territories
of Eastern Europe and in the Baltic Sea
region.
However,
in
their
development
the
cemeteries
were
substantially
subjected to the influence of cultures emanating from the
Caucasus and the Near East, which resulted
in the spread of some forms
of the burial
inventory.
It is also possible
that these foreign
influences
were responsible
for the adoption
of collective
burial
vaults.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Editor's
Note:
After the authors'
completion of the original
Russian
text
to this
book, an important
new series
of burials
has been
published
by A. V. Vinogradov et al. (Drevneyshee Naselenie Nizovy
Amudari, Moscow, 1986). Vinogradov describes
the excavation
of a
Neolithic cemetery at Tumek-Kichidzhik on the lower Amu Darya, south of
146
147
of Neolithic
skeletal
remains from the Ukraine is one of
Europe. These remains originate
from the Mariupol-type
the Dnieper-Donets
culture
in the Dnieper valley.
material
from the burial monuments of other Neolithic
territory
of the Ukraine are practically
unknown.
At the present
time, craniological
series
from a great number of
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
have been studied - about 300 skulls in all.
They include 119 skulls from the Derei vka I cemetery, 30 skulls from
Nikolskoye I, 74 from the two Vovnigy cemeteries,
33 skulls
from
Vilnyanka, 16 from Vasilyevka II and 15 from Kapulovka.
In addition,
some data are available
on individual
skulls found on the islands
of
Vinogradny and Sursky, in the sites
of Skelya Kamenolmnya, Igren,
Maryevka, Chaply, Zmeevka, etc.
Unfortunately,
some sites
have
not
been
the
subject
of
anthropological
study.
Hence,
there
is
no information
on the
anthropology
of such cemeteries
as Lysaya Gora, Dolinka (the Crimea),
Sobachky and Nenasytets.
Nothing is known about the skulls from these
cemeteries.
Besides, no anthropological
studies have been conducted on
the materials
from the main grave pit of the Mariupol cemetery. Two
skulls preserved in the paired burial
(No. 21) and studied by I. I.
Gokhman (1959) are dated to a later time (the early Eneolithic).
Among
the skeletal
remains from burial No. 50, which is attributed
to the socalled 'main-complex' of tlrMariupol
cemetery, only one male skull has
been studied
(I.
I. Gokhman 1959).
Because of the unfavourable
conditions
for preservation
such as sandy soil,
as in Chaply, the
skulls were in a state unsuitable
for study.
In the structure
of skulls
from the Neolithic
cemeteries
in the
Ukraine, G. F. Debets (1961) saw a compromise between the features
typical for Europoids of the northern zone and believed that this type
did not differ essentially
from the Cro-Magnon type in the broad sense
of this term.
As an original
human race ancestral
to the present day
species
the Cro-Magnons were widely spread in the Late Palaeolithic
of
Europe but are nowhere represented
today.
In the territory
delimited
by Lake Onega on the north and the Middle Dnieper (Vovnigy and some
skulls
from Vasilyevka
II),
they survived to the Neolithic
(Debets
1960).
Chapter 7
THE NEOLITHICPOPULATION
OF THE DNIEPERBASIN
The collection
the largest
in
cemeteries
of
Anthropological
cultures in the
Investigators
have also tried to determine more specifically
the type
of Neolithic population in the Dnieper valley and the Azov area.
Thus,
in pointing
to the large sizes of these skulls and a certain
facial
flatness,
V. V. Bunak (1959), for example, distinguishes
a separate
Vovnigy type.
There is also another
type which is substantially
different
from the above - the so-called
Voloshskoye type which has
been distinguished
by this investigator
on the basis of the materials
from the Mesolithic
cemeteries
in the Dnieper valley
( Voloshskoye,
Vasilyevka I, III).
A special
place in the classification
of the chronological
series
from the Neolithic
cemeteries
of the Ukraine has been given by I. I.
Gokhman (1966).
He noticed that such distinguishing
features
of the
. proto-European
type as massiveness
and great
facial
breadth
are
considerably
pronounced in the Neolithic
people in the areas of. t~e
Dnieper rapids and Azov even in comparison with the Upper Palaeolithic
skulls.
Proceeding
from
this
conclusion,
the
investigator
distinguished
a specific
Dnieper rapids-Azov
variant
of the protoEuropean type.
The assignment of these skulls from the Dnieper-Donets cemeteries to
the proto-European
type has been supported by other anthropologists
(Gerasimov
1955; Konduktorova
1956; Surnina
1961; Zinevich
19?7;
Potekhina 1978, etc).
However, it should be noted that the population
responsible
for
the Mariupol-typ~
cemeteries
was not
entirely
homogeneous,
a view which has been supported
by a number of
149
anthropologists.
On the basis of materials
from the cemeteries
of
Vasilyevka
(Gokhman 1958), Nikolskoye and Kapulovka (Zinevich
1967,
1968), and Dereivka (Zinevich 1967; Potekhina 1978) many distinguish
two craniological
variants:
dolichocranic
and mesobrachy-or mesocranic.
The main differences
in their
structures
are in the size of their
longitudinal
and transversal
diameters,
facial
breadth and horizontal
profile.
However, other investigators
(Surnina 1961; Alexeeva 1968)
consider that the evidence for the anthropological
subdivision
of the
Neolithic population in the Ukraine is insufficient.
T. S. Konduktorova (1956) leaves this problem open though she assumes
(1973) that these craniological
variants correspond to some extent with
the differences
between the separate local groups of the Dnieper-Donets
culture.
'"1'..
This lack of agreement regarding the homogeneity of the population
has resulted
in different
solutions
to another important question - the
problem of the origin
of the population
under discussion.
The
flattened
form of a number of skulls from the Vasilyevka II cemetery
led G. F. Debets (1960) to point to a relationship
between the
Neolithic
population
in the Ukraine and the people of the forest zone
in Eastern
Europe,
i.e.,
Cro-Magnons subjected
to a negligible
Mongoloid influence.
T. S. Konduktorova (1973) follows a point of view
close to this opinion when she supposes that the population
of the
Dnieper rapids and Azov regions originated
from the forest-steppe
or
forest territories
of Eastern Europe.
The origin of this population
from the more northerly
territories
of Eastern Europe is supported by
archaeological
data (Telegin 1968).
anthropological
remains into periods.
The further
improvement of our
knowledge on the Mesolithic
and Neolithic
population
structure
in the
adjacent
territories,
such as the areas of the Baltic Sea (Denisova
1975), the northern European part of the USSR (Gokhman 1975), the Lower
Volga Basin (Shevchenko 1980), etc.,
is also one of the important
factors
contributing
to a deeper understanding
of the anthropology
of
the Neolithic population in the Dnieper valley.
These provide the foundation for our analysis
of the anthropological
materials
of the Neolithic
in the Dnieper valley.
We begin our study
with an analysis of the previously unpublished anthropological
material
from these cemeteries.
Yasinovatka
Among the anthropological
materials
from the Dnieper-Donets
culture,
the skeletal
remains from the Yasinovatka
cemetery are of great
importance.
They are comparatively
well preserved and, in general,
represent
a closed
complex,
since
this
cemetery
was completely
excavated.
Here, due to distinct
stratigraphic
observations,
it has
become possible to distinguish
separate chronological
burial groups.
As noted above in Chapter 2, among the burials
cemetery, two main groups can be distinguished:
A somewhat different
point of view has been expressed
by I. I.
Gokhman, who believes that the population in the south Ukraine resulted
from the mixing of the local
Mesolithic
population
and foreign
elements.
The former are represented
by a number of skulls
from
Vasilyevka I and III, and the latter,
according to him, are represented
by the meso-brachycranic
type from the Neolithic cemetery of Vasilyevka
II.
That is the general
course of research
on the anthropological
materials
from the Neolithic cemeteries in the Dnieper basin.
As seen
from the above description,
specialists
in this
region
primarily
believe that the area was occupied by a late Cro-Magnon type of protoEuropean population.
A number of craniological
features
indicate
that
these_people
were evidently
heterogeneous,
and this fact considerably
c?mphcates
the . pr~blem both of their origin and their relationships
with the Mesolithic
and Neolithic
tribes
within
their
historical
environment.
Recently, an accumulation of new data offers strong possibilities
for
resolving
a number of problems concerning
the anthropology
of the
Neolithic
population.
First
of all,
we refer
to the increase
in
information
due to the excavations
of a number of new Mariupol-type
cemeteries such as Yasinovatka,
Vasilyevka V, Osipovka and more recent
excavations
of burials
in the Nikolskoye,
Dereivka and some other
cemeteries.
It should be especially
noted that in the Yasinovatka
cemetery there was traced a distinct
stratigraphic
sequence of burials
from diff:r:n~
periods.
Th~s has provided a basis for constructing
a
of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries
together with
their
general division
150
of the Yasinovatka
with weakly-
pit.
cJ
36
15
60-69
50-59
40-49
30-39
20-29
34
30 26 22
18 14
10
10 14 18 2
26
30 34
42
II
50-59
40-49
30-39
20-29
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
III.
Fig. 56
10 14
18 22
26 30
60-69
As a result of restoration,
we have a series of 27 skulls,
i.e.,
40
per cent
of the deceased.
In most cases,
the skulls
were
satisfactorily
preserved but their bases were often lacking.
The bases
were preserved only in three cases (skull Nos. 36, 44, 45).
In 11
cases, the lower parts of the occipital
bones were preserved,
and this
made it possible to measure the sagittal
arches as well as the arches
and chords of the occiput.
I - males;
The series
consists
of 17 male and 10 female skulls.
The
determination
of sex caused no difficulties.
The male skulls
are
rather
sharply distinguished
for their
large sizes of cranial
and
facial
regions,
thick
vault
bones and heavily
developed
relief
(supraorbital
arches, glabellae,
mastoid processes,
temporal lines, in
particular).
The degree of male glabella development is on average 4.4
units (after Martin).
In some cases, the degree of development of this
characteristic
is as great as 6. The length of the supraorbital
arches
is rather
substantial
(2.2 units),
though they do not run into the
region of the supraorbital
triangle.
The mastoid processes are very
large, and in the case of male skulls their index is, on average, 2.9
units.
The relief
of the occipital
bone is characterised
by a number of
distinctive
features.
Two modifications
of male skulls
have been
observed.
One of them represents
a developed transversal
occipital
torus formed in the inion region by the converging nuchal lines (skull
No. 18).
In the--other case (skull No. 44), the superior nuchal lines
were also strongly
developed and formed two tori
projecting
more
sharply in the lateral
areas and deepened in the middle part, i.e.,
in
the vicinity
of the external occipital
tuber.
In both cases, the tori
are in the form of sharply
projecting
ledges
or lips.
These
distinguishing
features
point to a marked relief
of the occipital
bone
and its increased massiveness,
though the series also includes a number
of skulls
with rather
weak relief
of the occiput.
An analogous
152
153
Table 3
Individual
Definitions
Characteristics
(after Martin)
1
8
9
20
8: 1
,-,.
(.Jl
,i:,.
45
48
54
52
77
48:45
52:51
54:55
from Yasinovatka
10
11
15
18
23a
24
27
195
148
188
146
122
75.9
196
143
101
113
77. 7
199
131
96
122
65.8
187
136
97
119
72. 7
198
133
103
122
67.2
182
148
107
109
81.3
191
146
106
121
76.4
144
77
30.6?
32.2
142
138
53.5
74.9
54.7
72.9
t'
Table 3
(Continued)
Definitions
,-,.
(.Jl
(.Jl
1
8
9
20
8: 1
45
48
54
52
77
48:45
52:51
54:55
35
36
44
45
47
55
57
60
63
198
150
104
192
152
107
124
79.2
156
76
25.5
33.0
199
143
108
127
71.9
146
72
28.1
28.0
147
127
49.3
60.7
54.6
193
139
95
1,20
72.0
193
154
107
124
79.8
189
135
101
115
71.4
150?
70
27.2
32.1
139
132
46.7
74.3
52.8
199
145
103
210
141
108
75.8
150
77
27.9
32.1
142
135
51.3
74.0
47.7
48.7
73.8
44.6
72.9
145
30.0
134
127.7
60.2
67.1
196?
64
M(n)
196
194.5
143.1
103.1
119.8
73.8
148.5
74.5
27.9
31.2
140.8
132.2
49.9
69.7
50.9
a-
(18)
(16)
(14)
(12)
(16)
(6)
(5)
(5)
(6)
(5)
(5)
(5)
(6)
(5)
6.4
6.83
4.51
5.03
3.87
4.46
3.21
1.84
1.87
4.76
4.62
2.60
7.14
4.42
osteogenesis
has been described by I.
from the Vovnigy right-bank cemetery.
I.
NOONI-'
O
00\.0001-'
NOON
I-'
O
00\.0001-'
.. ......
.. ......
I-'
I-'
(j
::r
ll)
'i
ll)
()
rt
CD
'i
....
rt
....
(/l
()
(/l
::,
....
<
....
i:i..
i:i..
=
ll)
I-'
E3
......
OQ
~
The greatest
parietal
breadth of the skulls ranges within broader
limits,
especially
in the male group.
In one case, the greatest
parietal
breadth is very small and measures 131 mm. The maximum value
of the greatest
parietal
breadth reaches a very high magnitude and is
as great as 156 mm. On the average, the series is characterized
by a
moderately broad cranium ( 143. 9 mm.).
The size range of the female
group is within the limits of 133 to 148 mm. (140.4 mm. on average),
which indicates
a great width for female skulls.
I-'
I-' ......
0\.0N-..J
V'IN-..JI-'
-..J
Vl
I-'
(/l
-..J
W
I-'
1-'\.0I
W 00
N
'-"
,-....,-....,-....,-....
WW
I-' N
,-....
'
~'< 6
CD
I-'
IN\.0100
I-'
00
IOI
156
-..J
I-'
I-' ......
I 00 I I-' \.0 ~ 00
~001-'0
0\
,-... ,-...
,-....
NVlVlN
N
'-" ,-.... ,-.... '-"
'-"
N N
'-" '-"
O<ll)
....
I-'
(/l
ll)
::,
....
::,
-...J 0
<
ll)
'
rt
:,;"
I-'
...... I-'
I-' \.0 W -..J
N-..J-..J\.O
(/l
......
~'
00 ll)
'-"
I-' ......
W\.O
-..JI-'
N
00
V1
0
'
Vl
I-' ......
...... ......
O"I -..J N I-' \.0 ~ 00
~O"I0\.0-..JOW
,-....
NO"IOWO"I~~
'-"
.......
,-...,-...,-...,-...,-...,-...,-...
::s:
::,
'-"
.. . .. . .
1-'~NVlWV'IV'I
OOOOOWOOl-'N
VlWWOO-..JVll-'
157
0
1-h
I-'
01
(/l
ll)
'
. . ' '
W 00
I:',!
CD
'
<
-<
::,
....
(/l
1-h
CD
NI-'
CD
::s:@
::,
I-'
'
i-:i
ll)
i:i.. C"'
E3 I-'
CD CD
ll) ~
.-..J '
-..J
O"I I
V1
rt
(/l
-..J
I-' I
::,
ll)
-..J
11-'I
....._,,
'-"" ....._,,
'-""
'
I-' I-'
~00
E3
CD
' o-<
'
W-..JOO
-..J
00
I-'
I-'
I-' I-'
0\.0N-..J
00~\.0V'I
co
I-'
z....
'
:,;"
I-' 0
I
-..J
The skull index in the male series ranges from 65. 8 to 81. 3, i.e. ,
the series includes all three forms of brain cases: nine dolichocranic,
six mesocranic and one brachycranic.
-..J
'i
CD
......
'
I-'
I
I~
ll)
(/l
'i
ro
::,
CD
E3
I-'
CD
(/l
:,;"
=
I-'
I-'
(/l
of the greatest
length from glabella
(198.5 mm.), and mean values of
the greatest
parietal
breadth (140.3 mm.) and height of skull from
porion (115 mm.). The brain case is sharply dolichocranic
(70.5).
The
face is very broad (bi-zygomatic
breadth is 147 .S mm.). It is of a
medium height and sharply profiled in the horizontal
plane (the angles
of the horizontal
profiling
could be measured only on one skull).
The
orbits are very low, the nose is broad.
Characteristics
of the facial
region of the Yasinovatka skulls are
limited to the male group, since the faces on the female skulls could
not be measured, except for a few characteristics,
due to their
fragmentation.
The bi-zygomatic
breadth on the male skulls ranges
within the limits of only very high values and the variation
is not
very great: the greatest breadth is 156 mm. (Skull No.36) and the least
breadth is 144 mm. The mean facial breadth varies in a broader range:
from a mean of 96 mm. to very high (110 mm.). The cranio-facial
index
points to a great breadth of the facial region relative
to the cranial
breadth: on the average, it exceeds 100 and varies between 98.6 and
111.1 mm. The upper facial breadth is also characterized
by very great
size.
This characteristic
varies insignificantly
(from 110 mm. to 115
mm.) and in all cases differs
from the mean value by not more than 2
mm. The facial
height measurements vary within the limits
of the
medium and high classes.
According to facial indices,
the skulls are
brachycranic.
The orbital
breadth from the maxilo-frontale
is, on
average, very great (45.0 mm.), while the orbital height (from 28.0 mm.
to 33.0 mm. is, on average, very low (31.2 mm.). Naturally,
according
to the index (69. 7), the skulls are very low-orbital.
The nasal
breadth as well as the nasal height is, on average, high.
According to
the nasal index, the skulls are mesorhinic, though the series includes
one stenorhinic
and three brachyrhinic
skulls.
The facial
vertical
profiling
is weak or moderate.
Of the four studied facial skeletons,
one is mesognathic and three are orthognathic.
The naso-malar angle
varies from 134 to 147 (140.8, on average) and approximates modern
Europoid groups (140).
In three out of five cases, the value of this
angle exceeds the above limits,
which points to a tendency towards
flattening
of the face in its upper part.
On the average,
the
zygomaxilar angle equals 132.2.
In two out of five cases, it measures
135 and 138, which points to a rather weak horizontal
profiling
of
the facial region in its middle part.
On the average,
the skulls
from the 'red-coloured'
burial
vault
(Table 5, pit 6 ) are less massive than those of pit A and are
characterized
by a broader and higher mesocranic brain case.
According
to absolute
values,
the face is also broad,
high and somewhat
flattened.
However, these differences
are not sharply pronounced, and
when tested statistically,
they seem to be doubtful.
Since the pits of
chronological
phases of the
the A and B (6) types belong to different
cemetery, and the differences
between the associated
skull groups tend
towards an increase
in the cranial
index and are accompanied by a
decrease
(on average)
of massiveness
in the later
group, these
differences
may be explained by a process of temporal change. However,
this is inconsistent
with the fact that only the 'red-coloured'
grave
contained
skulls
(Nos. 15, 18, 44) with very massive bones of the
cranial vault, crest-like
upper nuchal lines (toruli)
on the occipital
bones, and a pronounced dolichocranic
character.
An analysis
for
homogeneity of 13 male skulls
from the 'red'
grave reveals
two
morphological
components of this group (Table 5, pit 6 , types I and
II).
The first
component includes skull Nos. 11, 15, 18, 23, 44 and 45.
They exhibit a complex of features
similar to that from the oval pits.
These features
are a very pronounced degree of development of
glabellae,
supraorbital
arches and especially
upper nuchal lines.
The
brain case is very long (195.3 mm.), narrow (137.5 mm.) and high.
The
cranial
index is 70.4.
The face is broad (146 mm.), the orbits are
very low and the nose is very broad.
The angle of the horizontal
profile
measured only on one facial
region points to a considerable
flatness
of the face at the orbital
level (naso-malar angle is 147).
By this characteristic
the dolichocranic
skulls from the 'red-coloured'
grave are distinguished
from the skulls found in the oval pits.
If
this characteristic
is ignored, the skulls from the oval pits (type A)
and the dolichocranic
skulls from the 'red' grave (type B) should be
assigned to a single craniological
type (I).
The validity
of such a 1
grouping is demonstrated statistically.
When tested by means of the X
method, the degree of coincidence according to 10 characteristics
is
0.99, which indicates
a high degree of similarity
of the groups being
compared.
The other craniological
type (type II, Table 5), distinguished
in the
red-coloured
grave,
exhibits
a
quite
different
complex
of
characteristics.
It includes
a number of mesocranic skulls and one
brachycranic
skull (Nos. 9, 10, 24, 27, 35, 36, 37).
The medium
cranial index is 78.0.
Each of these skulls has a high brain case and
a very broad forehead.
The face is very broad (150 mm.) and somewhat
flattened
at both planes.
The orbits
are low, the nose is of a
moderate breadth. In this case (except for skull No. 47), the degree of
development
of glabellae,
supraorbital
arches,
external
occipital
tubers and mastoid processes
is somewhat less than in type I.
The
1
comparison of these two types by means of the X method, according to
159
Table 5
Comparison of Yasinovatka craniological
Definitions
1
8
20
8: 1
9
10
11
12
23a
45
46
48
48:45
45:8
55
54
54:55
52
52:51
SC
SS
SS:SC
77
Characteristics
Pit A
(Type I)
160
Table 5
(Continued)
types (Males).
198.5(4)
140.3(3)
115.0(1)
70.5(3)
104.0(3)
117.7(3)
131.5(2)
111.5(2)
532.0(1)
147.5(2)
98.5(2)
70.0(1)
46.7(1)
105.6(2)
52.0(2)
27.2(1)
52.8(1)
31.1(2)
67.3(2)
8.1(3)
4.8(1)
59.3(1)
134.0(1)
128.7(1)
Pit
Pit
6.
193.6(13)
143.8(13)
120.3(11)
74.64(13)
102.8(11)
122.2(13)
131.8(10)
112.8(13)
543.1(11)
149.0(4)
103.3(3)
75.5(4)
50.7(4)
100.8(4)
55.8(4)
28.0(4)
50.4(4)
31.3(4)
70.9(4)
9.5(7)
4.0(6)
45.3(6)
142.0(4)
133.0(4)
1
8
20
8: 1
9
10
11
12
23a
45
46
48
48:45
45:8
55
54
54:55
52
52:51
SC
SS
SS:SC
77
Type I
Type II
195.3(6)
137.5(6)
122.0(5)
70.4(6)
100.0(6)
116.5(6)
127.0(3)
110. 7(6)
538.0(5)
146.0(1)
110. 7(6)
72.0(1)
49.3(1)
102.1(1)
51.5(1)
28.1(1)
54.6(1)
28.0(1)
60.7(1)
8.25(2)
3.2(2)
38.8(2)
147.0(1)
127.0(1)
191.3(7)
149.1(7)
118.8(6)
78.0(7)
106.2(5)
127.0(7)
133.9(7)
114.6(7)
547.3(6)
150.0(3)
100.0(2)
76.7(3)
51.7(3)
100.4(3)
57.2(3)
28.0(3)
49.0(3)
32.4(3)
74.2(3)
9.9(5)
4.4(4)
48.2(4)
141.0(3)
135.0(3)
161
Pits A and
Type I
196.1(10)
138.4(9)
120.8(6)
70.4(9)
101.3(9)
116.9(9)
128.8(5)
110.9(8)
537.0(6)
147.0(3)
102.3(3)
71.0(2)
48.0(2)
104.4(3)
51.8(3)
27.7(2)
53.7(2)
30.0(3)
65.1(3)
8.2(5)
3.7(3)
54.6(3)
140.5(2)
127.9(2)
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ctl
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r,)
r-f
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r,)
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ctl
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4-l
w
w
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Table 7
I-,
..c::0
..c::
4-l
I-,
4-l ,-I
E3
r-f
4-l
Female Skulls
from Yasinovatka
Pit A
I-,
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..c::
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ctl ;:::s
4-l ..c::w 0..
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ctl
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ctl ctl 00 i:: r,) ctl ctl ctl r-f
w r-f ctl ctl w I w I-,
w
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Two female brain cases (Nos. 19 and 65) derive from the A-type pit
One of them is brachycranic
( cranial
index is 81. 6).
The other is
nearly mesocranic (index is 74.9).
Thus, in the oval pits, along with
males of the dolichocranic
type (I), there were buried females having
higher
cranial
indices
(Table
6).
In order
to elucidate
the
differences
between the anthropological
types of the male and the
female skulls,
we have calculated
ratios of sexual dimorphism on the
basis of the principal
characteristics
of the brain region.
It has
been stated
that
all
of them, with one exception
(horizontal
circumference
through ofrion),
exceed the limits of the mean standard
values (Alexeev and Debets 1964). By counting the sizes of two female
skulls
on the basis
of the sexual-dimorphism
ratios,
we obtain
correlated
mean values of the main characteristics
of 'pseudo-male'
brain cases (Table 7).
Compared to the male skulls from the A-pit, the
correlated
female skulls
are characterized
by a much shorter
and
broader brain region, and by a pronounced mesocrania (the cranial index
of the correlated
skulls is 77 .3, that of the male skulls is 70.5).
The correlated
skulls
have much greater
breadth
of forehead,
biauricular
breadth and breadth of occiput.
Therefore,
the results
of
correlation
between the male and 'pseudo-male'
series,
though they are
based only on the data associated
with the brain regions of the skulls,
point to the fact that different
anthropological
types were buried in
the A-pit.
In this case, the male skulls belong to type I, while the
female skulls should be assigned to the same mesocranic type (II) as
the male mesocranic skulls from the 5-pit.
Characteristics
c..?c..?::t::U....:lc..?~~::t::
1
8
8: 1
9
Males
Type I.
Pseudo-males
Type II
198.5
140.3
70.5
104.0
117. 7
131.5
111.5
185.1
143.1
77.3
98.0
125.3
137.8
121.4
(4)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(7)
(2)
r,)
i::
0
r-f
.
r-f
i::
r-f
4-l
,-1
c.o0
,-!
0\
NOO
0
r-1
r-1
r-1
N
r-1
ctl
C")
162
163
and, undoubtedly,
represent
the same chronological
type (I) as
dolichocranic
male skulls with broad and well profiled
faces.
other female skulls (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 50) from the 'red g7ave'
distinguished
by different
proportions
of brain cases.
They
characterized
by a pronounced mesocrania with very high values for
greatest
length
from glabella,
the greatest
parietal
breadth
height.
the
The
are
are
the
and
Judging from the facial skeleton at our disposal (No.SO), this group
of skulls is characterized
by very low (or medium height, according to
index) orbits and broad faces flattened
in the upper part.
Seven male
skulls
(craniological
type II) from the same pit and the two female
skulls
described
above from the A-pit have a similar
complex of
characteristics.
Thus, among the female series of skulls from the red
burial vault,
there have been distinguished
two craniological
types
corresponding to craniological
types I and II in the male series.
The distribution
of the craniological
types of male and female skulls
of their cranial indices is given in
in pits A and 6 and the definition
Table 8.
Table 8
Type I
Pit A
Males
70.5
Pit 6
Males
Females
70.4
71. 7
Type II
Pit A
Females
78.3
Pit 6
Males 78.0
Females 78.2
I
I
165
Table 9
Individual
Characteristics
1
8
9
20
8:1
45
48
54
52
77
48:54
52:51
54:55
Table 9
(Continued)
166
172
. 132
95
76.7
194
142
104
177 200
137 148
94
113
77 .4 74.0
138
69
21.5 31. 7 138
127
50.0 74.9 45.3 -
Definition
1
8
9
20
8: 1
45
48
54
52
77
119
189
144
97
183
145
103
76.2
79.2
192
136
101
70.8
191
134
99
200
148
70.2
48:45
52:51
54:55
167
191
151
110
118
74.0 79.1
M(n)
188.9
141.7
100.4
115.5
75.3
138.0
69.0
21.5
31. 7
138
127
50.0
74.9
45.3
(10)
(10)
(8)
(2)
(9)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Table 9
(Continued)
Definition
1
8
9
20
8:1
45
48
54
52
77
Vasilyevka
9
26
183
37
201
136
Osipovka
16
M(n)
192 (2)
136 (1)
24.3
131.8
48:45
52:51
54:55
176
138?
96
119
78.4
140
75
25.5
31.0
137.6
130.2
53.6
74.7
45.4
dolichocrania
and mesocrania have been determined visually.
The mean
value of the cranial index (75.3) points to a certain predominance of
mesocranic (or sub-dolichocranic)
skulls in the series.
According to
the absolute
values and cranial
index, the male skulls have broad
foreheads.
Only in one case (skull No. 106) according to the three
main diameters is the forehead of medium breadth (the least breadth is
107 mm.). The breadth of occiput varies more widely from very narrow
to very broad.
In most cases, the height of the vault falls in the
middle range.
The characteristics
of the facial region will be given mainly on the
basis of skull No. 106. The face is broad, according to the absolute
values, and it is moderately broad, according to the index (mesen and
mesoprosopic).
The nose is leptorinic.
In the other case (skull No.
135), the nose is of medium breadth and of considerable
simothic
height.
The bridge
of the nose is high.
The orbits
are
chameconchnic.
The horizontal
profiling
of the face is well pronounced
at both levels.
The naso-malar angle is 138, and the zygomaxillar
angle is 126 .
The angles of the vertical
profiling
point to a
mesognatic nature both at the middle and alveolar portions.
The lower
part is moderately massive and often coarse at the angles.
The body
and symphysis are high, and the thickness is moderate.
The massiveness
of the body is rarely met. The angle of the ascending ramus is medium,
the chin is moderately projecting.
The female skulls
(Table 4) from the Nikolskoye cemetery are
distinguished
from the male skulls primarily by a pronounced gracility,
a pronounced projection
of frontal and parietal
tubers, and by the weak
relief
of the occiput.
According to the index, the forehead is broad.
In two cases, when the state of preservation
made it possible to obtain
the necessary measurements, the skulls were dolichocranic.
The facial
skeletons on the female skulls are not preserved, except for fragmented
mandibles.
In all cases,
one may observe less massive
skulls,
according to the index, with a great height of the body and symphysis
and with a thin body.
A similar
structure
of the mandible is
observable in case of the deceased from the Vasilyevka V cemetery.
When comparing the above-described
group of skulls with the series
from the same cemetery which was formerly studied by G. P. Zinevich, it
becomes evident that they both represent a single population associated
with the Nikolskoye cemetery.
The resemblance is primarily observed in
the massiveness of the skulls and their large sizes.
The new series
only broadens to some extent the range of variation
of some of the
characteristics.
Thus, for example, the minimum value for the greatest
length from glabella
in the new series
(172 mm.) reduces the least
limit of this characteristic
by 15 mm. which is also responsible
for a
lower mean value (188.9 mm.) for the greatest
length from glabella.
This is also responsible
for the higher cranial index in the new series
compared to the series
studied
by G. P. Zinevich ( 75. 3 and 73 .1
respectively).
However, these differences
do not exceed the intergroup
limits
and make it quite possible
to integrate
the two groups of
skulls, which substantially
enlarges the size of the series.
The mean
values of the main characteristics
of the integrated
series
of the
Nikolskoye skulls are given in Table 10. These values are calculated
on the basis of those compiled by G. P. Zinevich (1967, table 31) and
in accordance with our own data.
168
169
Table 10
Mean sizes of Nikolskoye male skulls
(integrated
series after I. D. Potekhina)
1
8
8: 1
20
9
12
45
48
45:8
48:45
54
54:55
52
52:51
72
74
77
71a
193.0
142.3
74.0
121.0
101.8
(24)
(25)
(23)
114.3
(7)
(7)
(11)
(21)
115.9 (18)
74.1
97.4 (7)
51.4 (7)
25.4 (7)
47.3 (7)
32.0 (7)
71. 7 (7)
82.1 (7)
74.1 (7)
140.0 (5)
124.0 (7)
36.1 (13)
170
171
Table 11
Mean Size of Male Burials
from Mariupol-type
Cemeteries
Vasilyevka II
Gokhman1966
Characteristics
172
189.5
145.6
144.3
122.4
106.8
76.7
65.1
84.1
153.5
75.3
32.0
47.63
26.8
55.57
85.3
73.6
31. 7
144.0
129.5
77 .3
49.1
67.3
48.2
51.8
105.8
(10)
(10)
(3)
(9)
(11)
(10)
(9)
(9)
(9)
(7)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(3)
(8)
(6)
(5)
(7)
(8)
(7)
(3)
(9)
Table 11
(Continued)
Vovnigy I
Konduktorova
191.8
142.2
143.7
123.5
102.7
74.1
64.4
87.0
144.8
78.5
33.25
43.60
27.4
57.35
83.0
81.0
30.0
140.2
123.3
87.0
54.0
76.6
47.6
54.0
102.7
(6)
(6)
(3)
(6)
(7)
(6)
(6)
(6)
(4)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(5)
(1)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(4)
Def.
1
8
17
20
9
8: 1
20:1
20:8
45
48
52
51
54
55
72
74
75(1)
77
193.2
145.8
145.8
122.2
101.2
74.9
63.6
84.9
146.3
72.2
32.5
44.8
26.5
53.42
83.5
78.8
29.6
138.7
126.9
81.9
49.4
72.8
49.4
49.9
100.9
47:45
49:45
52:51
54:55
48: 17
45:8
(35) 194.8
(37) 146.1
(19) 149.1
(37) 122.6
(37) 101.9
75.1
(34)
62.9
(34)
84.0
(35)
147.5
(36)
75.8
(31)
33.6
(35)
45.98
(35)
25.9
(30)
54.25
(31)
84.5
(26)
80.6
(24)
31.6
(19)
(32) 138.3
(26) 126.9
85.9
(25)
51.4
(31)
73.1
(34)
47.7
(29)
50.9
(17)
(36) 101.0
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
(12)
193.0
142.7
(3)
(3)
122.0
97.9
74.0
(3)
(3)
(3)
150.0
71.5
34.0
(2)
(2)
(2)
27.0
(2)
81.0
72.0
33.0
143.0
135.0
(2)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(2)
46.4
73.1
49.6
(2)
(2)
(2)
173
189.4
145.5
152.0
127.0
100.1
77 .1
67.0
87.4
139.0
74.0
31.8
44.4
28.2
54.2
80.0
(8)
(8)
(4)
32.0
141.0
123.0
83.5
48.8
71.8
52.2
45.3
(1)
(4)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(5)
(4)
(1)
(7)
(8)
(8)
(7)
(7)
(2)
(4)
(5)
(5)
(5)
(4)
(1)
193.0
142.3
143.0
121.0
101.8
74.0
63.12
83.2
144.3
74.1
32.0
45.3
25.4
53.9
82.1
74.1
31.5
140.0
124.0
83.4
51.4
71. 7
47.3
50.9
97.4
(24)
(25)
(3)
(11)
(21)
(23)
(10)
(11)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(4)
(5)
(7)
(4)
(7)
(7)
(7)
(2)
(7)
Table 11
(Continued)
Dereivka
Zinevich 1967;
Potekhina 1978
1
8
17
20
9
8: 1
20: 1
20:8
45
48
52
51
54
55
72
74
75(1)
77
47:45
49:45
52:51
54:55
48:17
45:8
193.4
144.8
145.4
124.0
101.3
74.8
64.4
85.6
143.7
73.2
32.15
44.0
26.4
53.9
84.8
74.5
27.5
139.2
125.0
85.2
51.3
72.9
50.3
49.7
98.7
(48)
(57)
(21)
(50)
(43)
(48)
(40)
(47)
(14)
(18)
(22)
(20)
(19)
(19)
(15)
(14)
(12)
(13)
(8)
(8)
(12)
(20)
(16)
(12)
(13)
Yasinovatka
Potekhina
194.5
143.9
149.3
119.8
104.1
73.8
63.0
84.8
148.5
74.4
31.2
45.0
27.9
54.5
86.3
80.5
(18)
(17)
(3)
(12)
(15)
(15)
(11)
(11)
(6)
(5)
(6)
(6)
(5)
(6)
(4)
(4)
140.8
132.2
80.3
49.9
69.7
50.9
49.4
102.4
(5)
(5)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(5)
(2)
(6)
Vasilyevka
Potekhina
192.0
136.0
35.6
24.3
131.8
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
V Osipovka, No. 18
Potekhina
176.0
138.0
132.0
119.0
96.0
78.4
67.6
86.2
140.0
75.0
31.0
41.5
25.5
56.2
90.0
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
137.6
130.2
(1)
53.6
74.7
45.4
56.8
101.4
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
174
175
177
The least
178
179
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture:
(1) dolichocranic
and (2) mesobrachy- or
mesocranic.
The first
of them has been recorded on the materials
from
Vasilyevka
II,
Vovnigy I and II,
Vilnyanka,
Nikolskoye,
Dereivka,
Kapulovka, Yasinovatka,
Vasilyevka V, Osipovka and Igren.
It is probable
that
the dolichocranic
component was genetically
related
to the local Mesolithic
tribes
(Vasilyevka I, III).
We support
those investigators
who consider the second, mesobrachycranic
component
with a broad and somewhat flattened
face to be related
to the most
ancient
north-European
race
(Gokhman 1986; Denisova
1983),
which
migrated to the south.
It should be especially
noted that the observable
flatness
of the
facial
skeleton
under study,
especially
at its upper range,
is not
related
to Mongoloid admixtures.
The feeble horizontal
profiling
was
typical
for most of the ancient
north-Europoid
groups (Yakimov 1960;
Gokhman 1966, Denisova 1975).
A new proof suggesting
migration
of
people having broad and somewhat flattened
faces in Europe has become
available
as a result
of the study of the skulls
from the recently
discovered Mesolithic
cemeteries
of Vedbek and Skateholm in Denmark and
south Sweden, respectively
(Persson,
O. and Persson,
E. 1984; Gokhman
1986).
Skulls with heavily
flattened
faces are noted (Alexeev 1978;
Gokhman 1983) among the Neolithic
population
of Yugoslavia
and
Czechoslovakia
( the cemeteries
of Vlasac,
Bilkov,
near the town of
Nitra).
The area of propagation
of these features
was not confined to North
and Central Europe but ran, as we have assured ourselves,
as far as the
Dnieper rapids-Azov region, where this complex of features
was inherent
in the Neolithic
(Vasilyevka
II,
Yasinovatka,
etc) and Sredny Stag
populations
(Potekhina 1983).
Fig.
57
Reconstruction
of the Neolithic-Early
Eneolithic
physical
from the Dnieper rapids region (Vilnyanka -cemetery).
180
type
The segregation
of two craniological
versions within the composition
of the Neolithic
population
in the Dnieper valley and the elucidation
of the north-European
origin
of the one which tended toward the
flatten ed features,
obviates any need to attribute
this distinguishing
feature
to a Mongoloid component.
181
Chapter 8
THE LATECRO-MAGNON
POPULATION
OF THE DNIEPERBASIN
IN THE HISTORYOF EASTERNEUROPE
The bearers of the Dnieper-Donets culture,
whose skeletal
remains have
in the Mariupol-type
cemeteries,
were northern
been ~iscovered
Europ?ids, . descended from the Palaeolithic
Cro-Magnons (Debets 1966;
Gerasimov 1955; Konduktorova 1956; Gokhman 1966; Zinevich 1967). These
size
people ~ere of~ l~rge stature with brain cases of a considerable
in form, with broad, well profiled but often somewhat
and dolichocranic
flatte~e~
faces
e~pecially
at the upper orbital
level.
In the
composition
of this
population
there
have been distinguished
two
cra~iological
variants
(see chapter
7), but in general
they are
assignable
to a single late Cro-Magnon type.
Besi~es ~he Dnieper-Donets tribes,
the group of massive broad-faced
population of Denmark
Europoids in Europe includes the Meso-Neolithic
and Sweden - the cemeteries of Vedbaek and Skateholm of the Erteb~lle
cult~re.
A pronounced Europoid complex of features
has also been
attributed
by I. I. Gokhman to skeletons from the cemetery of Popovo in
the area of Lake Ladoga which are distinguished
by large stature
(not
less than 170 cm.) and the massive structure
of their skulls (Oshibkina
1983, 201).
The skulls of the Dnieper-Donets culture and the VedbaekErte?ol~e
serie~ comprise a number of taxonomic features,
which, as
specialists
b~li~ve .CDenisova 1975, 51), are the most race-diagnostic
for the Neoh~hic in Europe.
These are primarily
the bi-zygomatic
bread~h, the diameters of the brain case, the upper facial height, etc.
The difference
between the zygomatic breadths of the ErtebjDlle male
skulls (~50 ~-)
and the male skulls from the Neolithic cemeteries of
the Ukraine is. only 3 or 4 mm. (Denisova 1975; Konduktorova 1960;
Gokhman.1966; Zinevich 1967; Surnina 1961).
Still
less difference
in
the brain cases of these series has been noticed with regard to the
gre~test .parietal
breadths (2.3 mm.), upper facial
heights (3.2 mm.),
orbit _heights (1.6 mm.), etc.
They are also close to each other
according to the greatest
length from glabella.
The height of males of
the la~e Cro-Magnon type of Eastern Europe was 169.7 cm. It has been
det~rmined by means of measurements of skeletal
remains from the
Mari~pol-type
cemeteries
of Vovnigy, Vilnyanka,
Vasilyevka
II and
Dereivka calculated
by G. F. Debets (1966).
R. Y~. Den~sova (1983) believes
that
during the Mesolithic
Neolithic.
period_ in
periglacial
Europe
there
was a separate
morphol?gical
variant
related
by its origin to the Upper Paleolithic
population of the same territory.
She calls it the most ancient northEuro~ean _or hype:morphic
late
Cro-Magnon race which includes
the
series
fr?m Scandinavia
(Vedbaek, Ert:eb9'J.le) as well as
craniological
the skulls from the Mariupol-type
cemeteries in the Dnieper valley and
the Murzak-Koba burials in the Crimea.
The people of the West-Mediterranean
race represented
by the burials
of the Danube-Near Eastern mortuary tradition
differ basically
from the
~ate Cro-Magnon Vedbaek - Erteb~lle and Vovnigy population.
Among them
~n Europe, the most abundant were the tribes of the Linear-Ware culture
in the _Danube basin and Central Europe as well as the Neo-Eneolithic
population of the Dude~ti, Vadastra, Gumelnitsa, Tripolye cultures and
182
other
cultures
of the Balkans and the Carpathians
(Grimm 1954;
Velikanova 1975, 11-31).
In general,
they were short people with
narrow,
gracile
faces
primarily
with
dolichocranic
or
hyperdolichocranic
brain cases of a small size.
According to H. GriDiIIl,
the bi-zygomatic
breadth of the male skeletons
from the Zonderhausen
cemetery of the Linear Ware culture is 134 mm., i.e.,
10-15 mm. less
than the late Cro-Magnon population.
The Mediterranean skulls are also
distinguished
by some other parameters such as the cranial breadth, the
upper facial height, etc.,
though in substantially
smaller values.
In
addition,
M. S. Velikanova
(1975, 30, table. 2) notes that
the
population of the Mediterranean
and late Cro-Magnon types is markedly
distinguished
by the upper facial
index.
The
mean height of the
Mediterranean
people was 10-14 mm. less than that of the Cro-Magnon
type (Velikanova,1975,
table 13).
In a number of features,
among the
Mesolithic
tribes
of Europe, those buried in the Voloshskoye cemetery
on the Dnieper were the nearest people to the Mediterranean population.
They had hyperdolichocranic
skulls
and narrow faces
(bi-zygomatic
breadth is 129.2 mm.) (Debets 1955).
Besides these two extreme Europoid types of Meso-Neolithic
people,
characterized
by an increased
massiveness
of skeletons,
there were
numerous tribes
in Eastern Europe, which, by their
anthropological
indices,
occupied
an intermediate
position
between
the
pure
Mediterraneans
and the hypermorphic Cro-Magnons of the Vedbaek-Vovnigy
type.
This type has been distinguished
on the basis of materials
from
a large series
of skulls from Vasilyevka I, III on the Dnieper and
Zveinieky in Latvia (Gokhman 1966; Denisova 1975).
This intermediate
Vasilyevka-Zveinieky
type, according to some anthropologists,
arose in
the process of centuries
of mixing of the Mediterranean and Cro-Magnon
races as far back as the Mesolithic
(Gokhman 1966; Denisova 1983, 97).
According to the anthropological
features,
this type is closer to the
late Cro-Magnon than the Mediterranean
type, though there are some
differences
between them.
Unlike the broad faced Vedbaek-Vovnigy
population and the narrow faced Mediterranean type, this hybrid type is
moderately broad faced (Denisova 1983).
In addition to the Mesolithic
series from Zveinieky and Vasilyevka I, III, the moderately broad faced
type is represented
by burials
on Oleny island
and in the Narva
culture,
and also by the Copper-Age burials in Alexandria on the Oskol
river and the TRB culture (Denisova 1975).
It may be observed that the Mediterranean
population
buried their
dead, as a rule,
in the contracted
position
lying on their
side
primarily in the pose of adoration,
while the burials of the late CroMagnon population
(Vedbaek, Erteb9Slle, Vovnigy, etc.) were mainly in
the extended supine position.
As far as the people of the Zveinieky
and Vasilyevka (moderately broad faced) are concerned, they used both
types of burials:
contracted
in Vasilyevka
I, II,
Alexandria
and
extended supine positions
in Zveinieky, Oleny island, TRB, etc).
Therefore,
in the Mesolithic-Neolithic,
the south-western
territories
of the European part of the USSR and the region of the Baltic Sea may
be distinguished
as a contact zone populated by people of the three
above mentioned anthropological
types: the tall and broad-faced VedbekVovnigy type, the moderately broad-faced Zveinieky-Vasilyevka
type, and
the short and narrow faced west-Mediterranean
type.
183
Therefore,
the broad Cro-Magnon wedge of the Dnieper-Donets Neolithic
as's:imilated
the local
cultures
of the south.
The point of this
powerful wedge advanced as far as the northern
steppe areas of the
Crimea (Dolinka)
and the lower Don (Chir,
Rakushechny Yar).
The
intruding
tribes
created an original
Dnieper-Donets
Comb-Stroked Ware
culture
with a uniform burial
rite.
These tribes
differed
markedly
from the surrounding
population
by a number of other features
of
material
culture
such as tools,
ornaments,
etc.
Under optimum
conditions
for fishing,
especially
in the vicinity
of the Dnieper
rapids,
both the population
and their
life
expectancy
increased
significantly.
The prime historical
importance of the late Cro-Magnon advance into
the southern Ukraine is that it produced a fundamental change in the
ethnic
composition
of the population.
The prevailing
narrow-faced
(Voloshskoye)
and
moderately
broad-faced
(Vasilyevka
I,
III)
inhabitants
of the region were completely dislodged.
The influence
of
the late Cro-Magnon population
in the steppe zone may be traced,
as
indicated
below, in the next millennia.
In the Dnieper basin and the Left-Bank Ukraine, the dominance of the
late Vovnigy-type Cro-Magnons continued
for about one thousand years,
i.e.,
up to the middle of the second half of the 4th millennium b.c.
To this very period (the end of the 5th/beginning
of the 4th millennium
b.c.) we observe a noticeable
influence
of the Neolithic
Dnieper-Basin
culture on more westerly and south-westerly
territories.
On the South
Bug in the Dniester
Valley,
this resulted
in the appearance
of the
Samchinsky-type
Comb-Decorated Ware culture.
The occurrence
of such
burial monuments signified
an interruption
in the development of the
Bug-Dniester
culture
which had previously
developed under the steady
(Cri~-Starcevo).
influence
of the Balkan Neolithic
During the 5th-4th
millennia
b.c. burials
in the extended supine
position
began to appear on the Lower Danube and in the Balkans where
burial in the contracted
position
on the side had been typical.
This
new burial rite can be seen in such cemeteries as Hamangia, Durankulak,
Cernica,
and its origin probably lies in the Dnieper basin.
The new
features
of the burial rite appeared contemporary with Late Cro-Magnon
type individuals
among the local Mediterranean
population
(Necrasova
1960).
Therefore,it
should be recalled
that among the ceramics dated
to the end of the 5th/the
beginning of the 4th millennium b.c. in
Romania (Hamangia, Boian-Bolintineanu)
there appeared a punch-stroked
ornamentation
typical
for those places.
It is likely
that in many
respects
these features
were the relics
of more southerly
influence
from the Cardial Ware culture.
However, it is not improbable that the
idea for such ornamentation
was evoked by some more northerly
StrokedWare cultures.
D. Berciu (1955, 43) believed that the origin of this
decoration
in the Hamangia culture
lay in Central
Europe and south
Poland, but we suggest it would be wrong not to take into account the
Dnieper area of the Stroked-Ware culture.
It is also probable that the
Tripolye tribes,
which appeared at the beginning of the 4th millennium
B.C. when channelling
was combined with stroked patterns
on ceramics,
were also subjected
for some time to the influence
of the Dnieper
region (Chernysh 1956).
However, in the 4th millennium b.c., the historical
conditions
Dnieper basin changed sharply,
and this change was not in favour
184
185
in the
of the
culture.
However, these burials
seem to be culturally
mixed.
Among
them, for example, are burials
of the late
Sredny Stog, Lower
Mikhailovka
and Yamnaya cultures
(Telegin
1984).
Burials
in the
extended position
are known to a considerable
extent in the Catacomb
culture as well.
The occurrence of burials in the extended supine position,
which was
introduced
into
the south of the Ukraine by the late Cro-Magnon
Neolithic population,
left a substantial
mark on the beliefs and burial
rituals
of all subsequent cultures
of the Copper-Bronze Age in the
southern steppe areas of Eastern Europe. The transition
from this rite
to that of burying the dead in the contracted
position
on their side,
which became widespread in the Bronze Age, was rather long and went
through a number of stages (Telegin 1976).
During the Sredny StogYamnaya culture
period, for example, the rite of burying the dead in
the extended position was still
in progress but with legs bent up. The
Catacomb culture
was characterized
by the presence of contracted-onside burials,
though the dead were laid only in slightly
contracted
positions
with hands near the knees or the pelvis (in the so-called
riding pose).
And only during the Srubnaya (Timber-grave)
period did
burials
appear in a heavily contracted
position
on their
side with
hands near the face (the adoration
pose), i.e.,
the rite which was
adopted in the south of Eastern Europe during the Mesolithic
prior to
the expansion of the Mariupol-type cemeteries.
The influence
of the Dnieper-Donets burial rite was spread not only
among the primarily pastoral
steppe cultures but was also noticeable
in
some adjacent cultures,
such as the Tripolye culture.
This is how V.
A. Kruts (1977, 75) explains
the occurrence
of the late Tripolye
cemetery with extended burials
near the village
of Chapaevka, Kiev
region,
in the Dnieper valley.
Some archaeologists
do not reject
a
direct physical penetration
of a part of the Dnieper-Donets population
into the Tripolye environment.
It is possible that this is true, since
among the skulls associated
with this culture
in its more' westerly
territories
(Nezvisko,
Soloncheny,
Usatovo)
there
are
typical
representatives
of the Dnieper-Donets
Neolithic
population
(Kruts,
S.M., 1972, 134).
It is interesting
to note that among the graves of
the Usatovo culture,
extended supine burials are also known.
Among other
factors
supporting
the continuation
of Neolithic
traditions
in the Eneolithic-Bronze
Age cultures,
we may include some
forms of ornaments specific
to the Mariupol-type cemeteries.
Thus, for
instance,
both burials in the contracted
supine position of the latest
phase at Mariupol (the Novodanilovka type) and also
a sitting
burial
probably of the Sredny Stog type (No.41) in Dereivka were accompanied
by ornaments in the form of Mariupol-type
plates,
In burials
of the
Copper Age, there were also found annular
beads and pendants of
immature deer teeth typical of the Mariupol-type
cemeteries.
Annular
beads of gagate, carnelian
and green stone are present,
for instance,
among the
ornaments
from the
cemeteries
of
Nalchik,
Maikop,
Novosvobodnaya, etc. (Lemleyn 1947; Kruglov, Piatrovsky
and Podgaetsky
1941, figs, 8, 3; 32,4; IAK, 1897, fig, 7; IAK, 1898, 34). Pendants of
deer teeth are very often among the Copper-Age finds from the south of
the European part of the USSR such as Nalchik (Kruglov, Piatrovsky and
Podgaetsky 1941, 118), from Yamnaya burials
(Artsykh, Polgrad) in the
Pontic region
(Alexeeva 1976; Subbotin and Shmagly 1970, 118-119),
Manych (Erdiniev 1982, 24), the Kemi-Oba culture burials
excavated by
187
.....Fi
A. A. Schepinsky (Zolnoye, kurgan-I),
the burial of Krivoluchye,
etc.
The importance of the deer tooth ornaments for the Tripolye culture has
been noted by V. I. Markevich (1981, 181) in association
with the finds
from Karbuna, Habase~ti, Tsviklovitsev,
etc.
He believes that pendants
of deer teeth were used by the Tripolye people for exchange.
Further evidence for the propagation of cultural
influences
from the
Dnieper-Azov region into the agricultural
zone of the more westerly and
south-westerly
territories
can be seen in the occurrence
of ochre
graves in the region of the Lower Danube, the presence of Eneolithic
knives
(Decea Muresului,
Csongrad) and hoards of flint
artifacts
(Schela Cladovei).
These should all be ass!gned to precisely
the same
time, the middle of the 4th millennium b.c.
For a long time, the
occurrence of these burial monuments along the Danube were related,
as
a whole, to the Mariupol period (Garasanin 1959; Merpert 1964, H'ausler
1962).
Now it has become evident,
however, that this relationship
is
true not for the Mariupol cemetery as a whole, but only for the latest
single graves in contracted
supine positions
(Nos. 21, 24, etc).
The
latter
are related to a considerable
extent to the Mariupol culture but
they belong to a separate group of burial monuments of the so-called
Novodanilovka type (Telegin
1984) of the early Eneolithic
in the
southern Ukraine.
Specialists
in the Eneolithic
of the Danube valley
(Ecsedy 1979, 11-12; Tati~ 1983, 19) have come to similar conclusions.
No matter how significant
the role of the late Cro-Magnon population
of the Dnieper-Donets community in the history of the southern Ukraine
it is probable that this population was completely assimilated
by th;
tribes of the Copper-Bronze Age, mainly by the Sredny Stog and Yamnaya
cultures,
as far back as the end of the 4th millennium b.c.
Most
archaeologists
consider
the steppe tribes
of these cultures
to be
Iranian-speaking
people partly
including
the southern Dnieper-Donets
population.
The fortunes
of the Dnieper-Donets tribes
and the related
Comb and
Comb-Stroked Ware cultures
(Niemen, Narva) in the more northerly
territories
of the Dnieper basin were quite different.
It is probable
that in the Dnieper-Dvina region and in the area of the Baltic Sea
these cultures
developed through the whole third millennium in the
neighbourhood
of the Pit-Comb Ware culture
in the east,
the late
Tripolye culture
in the south, and the TRB and then Globular Amphora
culture
in the west.
Ethnically,
the bearers of these cultures
were
different
and therefore
we cannot agree with those investigators
who
believe that these cultures
developed one into other, for example, that
the ~nieper-Donets
culture evolved into the TRB culture as proposed by
J. Lichardus
( 196 7).
An unconvincing argument for the south-eastern
origin of the TRB culture has also been proposed by other investigators
(Kowalczyk 1970; Hausler 1981).
In contrast
P.M. Dolukhanov and V.P.
Tretyakov (1979) believe that the Dnieper-Donets
culture
was formed
under the influence
of_ the TRB culture.
It is probable that such
conclusions
are the result
of a narrow interpretation
of some general
features
of these cultures
such as the extended burial rite in both
cultures,
and some adoptions from the TRB culture in the ornamentation
and forms of vessels by the latest stage of the Dnieper-Donets culture.
. As far as the common fate of the Dnieper-Donets Neolithic population
is concerned,
the latter,
as most scholars
believe,
survived to the
188
1974,
180-181;
1982,
Some scholars
observe that during the Corded Ware culture
(Middle
Dnieper and Stzhizhov variants)
there was a widespread rite to bury the
dead in the extended position,
and this rite,
as mentioned above, was
predominant among the Dnieper-Donets Neolithic
population.
Therefore,
it is interesting
to note that even when passing to the rite
of
cremation,
the
bearers
of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
continued
constructing
elongated grave pits to correspond to extended inhumation.
All this may support the contention
that the Dnieper-Donets population
in the north Ukraine and in Byelorussia
together
with other tribes
(Sredny Stog, early Yamnaya, etc.)
played a definite
role in the
formation of the Middle-Dnieper and probably Stzhizhov cultures.
The Corded Ware cultures
Middle Bronze Age cultures
which most believe
played
Slavic-speaking
peoples.
for the
culture,
of the
Chapter 9
1-rj
I-'
()Q
CHRONOLOGY
ANDCULTURAL
RELATIONS
During the Neolithic and Eneolithic
periods, the paths of cultural
and
historical
development in the steppe Pontic and Lower Danube regions
were closely interconnected.
However, the character of these relations
was far from the same at different
stages.
Thus, at the end of the
developmen!, of the North Pontic
6th-4th millennia
b.c. the cultural
region was under significant
influence
from the Balkan agricultural
Gumelnitsa, and other cultures.
cultures such as the Cri~, Precucuteni,
However, in the middle of the 4th-3rd millennia
b .c.,
the cattlebreeding cultures
of the North Pontic region became predominant, i.e.,
the Sredny Stog, Kemi-Oba, Yamnaya, etc.
(71
.,..
0
0
0
0
0
.,..
0
0
0
(71
N
C71
0
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r
still
dates
difficult
to date the Hamangia culture.
place this culture in the beginning of the
193
4th millennium b.c. D. Berciu notes that the pottery of the Hamangia
culture is similar to that of the Cri~ and Bug-Dniester cultures
and
assigns it to the 5th millennium b.c.
Moreover, he assumes.that
the
Hamangia culture
is related
to the Linear Ware culture
(Berciu 1966
14).
V. Dumitrescu and E. Comsa position Hamangia after the Romania;
(Dumitrescu 1983, 70; Comsa 1962), which, as we suppose,
~ris culture
is more correct.
At the beginning of the 4th millennium b.c.,
the
territory
of Dobrugia was under the influence
of the Varna and
Gumelnitsa cultures.
Here attention
should be drawn to the fact that
the Hamangia and Varna (Varna,
Durankulak)
cultures
contain
a
considerable
number of late Cro-Magnon burials
in extended supine
pos~tions.
Direct analogies
to these may be found only in the
Mariupol-type
cemeteries
in the Ukraine dated to the end of the
5th/first
half of the 4th millennium b.c.
~e can now turn_ to the burial monuments of the North Pontic region.
Besides the Bug-Dniester culture and the Linear Ware culture
two other
Neolithic cultures are known: the Surski-Dnieper
ana the Dni;per-Donets
cultures.
The first
of them occupied the area of the Dnieper rapids
~nd the steppe Left Bank Ukraine.
Unfortunately,
it has been studied
rncompl~tely (see Danilenko 1950, Archaeology, 1985). According to the
typologica~ data, two phases of development may be distinguished:
the
early
period
(Gorodok, Shulaev)
and the late
period
(Strilchaya
Skelya).
The Dnieper-Donets culture covered large territories
of the Ukraine
~nd south-eastern
Byelorussia.
Three periods may be distinguished
in
its. development: the early (I),
the middle (II) and the late (III)
periods.
The early period is dated to the second half of the 5th
millenium b.c.;
the middle period from the beginning of the 4th
millennium
b.c to the end of the third
quarter
of the same
millenni~.
This_period is divided into three stages: II-a (Sobachky),
II-b (Mariupol, Nikolskoye) and II-c (Griny).
On the Lower and Middle
Dnieper, the Dnieper-Donets culture terminates
in the stage II-b with
the expan~ion of the Sredny Stog culture (about 3600-3500 years b.c.).
However, in the more northern areas of the Ukraine the Dnieper-Donets
culture
continued into the II-c stage.
In this region, the culture
dev~loped settlements
of the Pustynka and Zashukha types which are
assigned to the third period of the Dnieper-Donets
culture
(Telegin
1968, ~9~-204; Archaeology of the Ukr-SSR, v.I, Kiev, 1985, 156-172).
In_ addition,
there has been distinguished
a fourth period of the
Dnieper-Donets culture in Byelorussia (Isaenko 1976).
The burial
monuments of the early period of the Dnieper-Donets
culture were similar in their inventory from the cultural
point of view
through?ut
the whole territory
of their
occupation.
The typical
on. the pottery
of that period are comb and channeling
decorations
During the second period of the development of the Dnieperpatterns.
Donets culture,
the monuments may be divided into local variants
w~ic~, as E. N. Ti tova ( 1985) believes,
represent
separate culture;
ethnocultural
community.
within the framework of the Dnieper-Donets
Here should be taken into account two other cultures
of the same
community: the Dnieper rapids culture
(Dnieper rapids-Azov
variant
after A. D. Stolyar and D. Ya. Telegin or the Azov-Dnieper culture
afte~ V. N. Danilenko) ~nd the Kiev-Cherkassy culture.
According to E.
N. Titova, the latter
includes the Cherkassy and Kiev variants
of the
Dnieper-Donets
culture
(after
D. Ya. Telegin).
Linear-stroked
194
ornamentation
prevailed
both in the Dnieper rapids
and the
Cherkassy cultures.
The collared rim ceramics were also in use.
Kiev-
of the
2.
3.
4.
5.
195
7t
shells),
the methods of processing the vessel surfaces (smoothing) and
also by the forms and poor decoration of the vessels,
it is possible to
relate
the Lower Mikhaylovka-type
ceramics to the Cernavoda-I culture
in Romania.
In the development of this culture we distinguish
the following three
stages:
the early (I) Mikhaylovka, the middle (II) Baratovka and the
late (III) Kemi-Oba. 0. G. Shaposhnikova assumes (Archaeology of the
Ukr.SSR, v.1, 1985) that a still
further stage may be distinguished
in
the development
of the Lower Mikhaylovka-type
monuments
the
Livenstsovka stage which partly precedes the Lower Mikhaylovka type.
As evident from our observations,
sites of the Lower Mikhaylovkastage are synchronous with the second period of the Sredny Stog
culture,
since considerable
amounts of sherds related
to the second
(corded) stage of the Sredny Stog culture have been found in the lowest
layer of the Mikhaylovka settlement.
The Baratovka stage corresponds
in time to the monuments of Usatovo (Tripolye C2), since near burials
of this type in the kurgans of Baratovka and Shirokoye in the Bug
valley,
there have been discovered
Late Tripolye
figurines
of the
Serezlievka
type.
Therefore,
both of these types are dated to the last
quarter of the 4th/first
half of the 3rd millennium b.c.
We assign the
monuments of the Mikhaylovka II type to this period as well.
The last
(III)
stage of the Lower Mikhaylovka/Kemi-Oba culture belongs to the
second half of the 3rd millennium b.c.
It is synchronous with the late
Yamnaya period.
The Lower
Mikhaylovka/Kemi-Oba
culture
is
characterized
by the presence
of kurgan-type
burials,
except for,
probably, the early stage.
Flat grave cemeteries
of this period are
also known near the village
of Voloshskoye,
Dnepropetrovsk region,
which are on Sursky island (Danilenko 1974, 44) and directly
in the
village (excavated by A. V. Bodyansky).
The elucidation
of the cultural
chronology
during
the Early
Eneolithic
period in the North Pontic and Lower Danube regions made it
possible to clear up a number of problems including the synchronism of
the Sredny Stog culture with the Tripolye stage Bl-Cl (Cucuteni A, B),
the early monuments of the Lower Mikhaylovka type as well as the
Cernavoda I culture
concurrently
developed in the pre-Usatovo period
(the end of the 4th/beginning
of the 3rd millennium b.c.).
These conclusions
are of great
contacts
between the population
Danube.
type burials
culture.
sprinkled
with
ochre
into
the
Balkans
to
the
Usatovo
For determining the absolute age of the Yamnaya culture more than 70
radiocarbon
dates have been obtained.
They have made it possible to
date the Yamnaya culture
to the range of 2800/2700-1900 years b.c.
(Telegin
1977; 1986, 102).
This culture
may be divided into two
periods (I and II).
The early
(I) period of the Yamnaya culture
(2800/2700-2500)
is
synchronous with the Usatovo culture:
a vessel related
to the Early
Yamnaya culture has been found in the Usatovo group cemetery (Patokova
1979, 117-119).
Since the Usatovo culture belongs to the same period
as the Baratovka and Lower Mikhaylovka/Kemi-Oba cultures
(see above),
T. G. Movsha relates
this vessel to the Dereivka stage of the Sredny
Stog culture.
However, on the basis of the typological
features
of
this vessel, we believe that this conclusion is mistaken.
Therefore,
the monuments of the Early Yamnaya period,
the Usatovo
culture
(Folte.~ti,
Cernavoda
II),
the
Baratovoka-Lower
Mikhaylovka/Kemi-Oba type form a single
chronological
horizon
(the
second quarter of the 3rd millennium b.c.).
The second (late stage) of the Yamnaya culture (2500-1900 years b.c.)
completes the development of the Neolithic
in the North Pontic region.
On the dawn of the 3rd millennium b.c. we find the formation of Bronze
Age cultures.
The steppe cattle-breeding
tribes
of the late Yamnaya
culture
were numerous.
They populated the steppe regions from the
Volga to the Danube and a powerful wave of these people overlay all the
earlier
cultures
of the Novodanilovka,
Baratovka,
Usatovo and other
types in cultural
and chronological
terms.
At this time, the invaders
penetrated
into the Lower Danube basin and forced out the bearers of
the Fol te~ti-Cernavoda
II, etc. cultures.
However, their appearance
had little
effect
on the later cultures
of the Cernavoda III-BadenBoleraz-Cotofeni
types of the second half of the 3rd millennium b.c.
(Tacic 1983, 19).
The steppe cattle-breeders
of the Yamnaya culture
were responsible
in the Balkans for the kurgan-type
ochre-graves
in
contracted
supine positions.
In contrast
to the early small kurgans of
the
Usatovo
time,
these
later
burials
usually
involved
the
construction
of large mounds.
According to radiocarbon
dates the
ochre-graves
in large kurgans, along with the Yamnaya-culture burials
in the Pontic
region,
are dated to the second half of the 3rd
millennium b.c.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The above outline
of the culture chronology during the Neolithic
and
Eneolithic
period in the North Pontic and the Lower Danube regions
makes it possible
to discuss
a number of problems concerning
the
history of the peoples in these regions on a sounder basis.
Here we
shall pay attention
to only one of them - the problem of contacts and
interconnections
between the hunting-fishing
and cattle-breeding
tribes
of the steppe Pon tic region and the agricultural
population
of the
Balkans.
As mentioned above, these were two-way relations
and the
character of these relations
was different.
Of course, there were both
migrations
of large masses of people and diffusions
of cultural
elements
between the heterogeneous
tribes,
but it
is difficult,
200
however, to
diffusions.
determine
any
district
An analysis
of the available
outline a number of such cultural
Neolithic and Eneolithic
epoch.
border
materials
contacts
between
migrations
and
201
(Strilchaya
6.
The last invasion of the steppe tribes
into the Balkans was
associated with the bearers of the Late Yamnaya culture and belonged to
the second half of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd millenniuum b.c.
However, the
kurgans
of the
Late
Yamnaya culture
should
be
distinguished
from the kurgan-type
burials
accompanied by ochre of
Folte~ti
I-III,
other
Danube cultures
such as Cernavoda II-III,
Gorodsk, Co;of eni, etc.
(Morintz and Roman 1973).
Most of them
occurred here prior to the Yamnaya culture burials and, as mentioned
above, were of another origin.
The genetic relations
of the Cernavoda
cultures were with the Lower Mikhaylovka/Kemi-Oba
II, Usato~o, Folteti
culture.
Hence, these burials should not be confused with burials in
the Suvorovo-type kurgans.
In addition,
a part of the population in
Glina III) were under the influence
the Lower Danube basin (Co;ofeni,
of the steppe tribes and began constructing
kurgans themselves.
These
burials were not directly
related to the Yamnaya culture either.
The wave of steppe cattle-breeders
of the late Yamnaya culture
penetrated far into the Balkans.
Kurgan-type ochre-graves occurred not
only in Romania (Zirra
1960) but also in Bulgaria
(Merpert 1965;
(Tacic 1983, 19-26) and
Panajotov
and Dergacev 1984), Yugoslavia
Hungary (Ecsedy 1979).
The main features
of the burials
associated
with this culture are well known from the literature.
The graves under
kurgans were constructed
in the form of rectangular
pits, the dead lay
in contracted
supine positions
and covered with ochre.
The inventory
was usually poor.
No vessel typical for the Yamnaya culture has been
found.
In connection with the spread of kurgan-type burials
sprinkled with
ochre over the territory
of the Balkans in the second half of the 3rd/
beginning of the second millennium b.c., it is quite right to raise the
202
203
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'
Appendix I
Velikanov:a~,1M;QS~.~~~~~L--1P!r~u!t~s!kQo-=Dgn~e~s~t~r~o~v~s~k~o?&o!..._ _!.!M~e~zh~d=u=r~e_c_h~i_.._a,
1975 falaeoantro
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k
D ne
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d
Lon on.
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t litsevogo otdela
0
Gorizontalnaya
profilirovannos
196
4 , 62- 70
drevnikh
lyudey.
VA
sovremennykh 1
cherepa
Zapiski
Yakovlev, A.
.
Ch
v Donskoy oblasti.
1901 Ploskie
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ir .
. t
Kharkovskogo Imperatorskogo Universite a.
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.
1959 Poseleniya
Epokhi Neolita
Emayigi. Tallin.
Zagorsky, F.
1962 Neolitichesky
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Archeologia
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Priu st ie
un Etnografia
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3,
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E:?
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1980 0 rabote
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Plemena
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S
Prichernomori
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Uk v Kiev
rain,L.
a.
'k
okhroy
v Zakarpatskikh
oblastyakh
PNR
THE MARIUPOL
CEMETERY
The Mariupol cemetery excavated by N.E. Makarenko in 1930 (now the town
of Zhdanov, Donetsk region) is one of the largest Neolithic cemeteries
in Europe (Makarenko 1933). It consists of two main parts: (1) a group
of burials in the main pit-trench
in extended supine positions,
and (2)
a small group of burials
in separate
pits
including
burials
in
contracted
supine positions
such as Nos. 21, 24 (the so-called
'bracelet
burial')
and one cremation.
The burials of these two groups
are markedly distinguished
from each other both by burial rite and
composition of finds.
Stratigraphically,
it has been observed that the
graves in the main pit-trench
were much earlier
than the graves of the
second group whiich were buried in individual
pits (Fig. 59).
The
former are assigned
to the Dnieper rapids
variant
of the late
Neolithic
Dnieper-Donets culture,
while the latter
are dated to the
Early Eneolithic period.
Group I Burials
These comprised Nos. 1-20, 22, 23, and 25-124 in the main pit-trench
lying in extended supine position,
arms straight
at side, in some cases
slightly
bent at elbows (Fig. 59).
Nearly all the skeletons
were
covered
(often
very heavily)
with powdered red ochre.
The
archaeological
material
found near these burials
was diverse
and
numerous - tools,
weapons, ornaments, etc.
Among the weapons and
tools, the most abundant were flint knives made of large-sized
blades
(Fig. 60,1), scrapers
(Fig. 60, 2,6) and knife-like
blades without
retouch.
The cemetery complex also included wedge-shaped flint axes
(Fig. 60,3), a number of large trapezes with flaked backs (Fig. 60,4)
and blades (Fig. 60,5), two nuclei, etc.
In addition,
there were two
unique cross-like
stone maces (Fig. 60,8).
The ornaments were also numerous and di verse.
Among them the socalled plates of the Mariupol type made of boar tusk enamel were the
Analogous plates of shell or stones
most interesting
(Fig. 60,13-16).
were rarer.
In some cases, ornaments were made of boar tusk and had
perforations
for suspension (Fig. 60,29).
There were also many beads
different
in form and made of different
materials:
(a) globular bone
beads with V-shaped perforations
(Fig. 60,17,18); (b) flat annular or
beads of
segmented shaped beads of nacre (Fig. 60,19,20); cylindrical
However, gagate beads were few in number. There
gagate (Fig. 60,21).
were numbers of pendants also used as beads.
They were made of
immature deer teeth (Fig. 60,23) or other animal teeth - wolf, dog,
badger (Fig. 60, 24) Unworked shells and Cyprinidae teeth were also
among the finds.
The inventory from the burials of the main pit also
included such unique finds as a bone zoomorphic figurine resembling a
bull (Fig. 60,11), bone tubes with incisions,
porphyrite
and marble
pendants (Fig. 60,26)
Ceramics were absent from the burials.
There were only three small
pottery fragments including a flat base decorated with comb ornament,
which were found in the fill of the pit-trench
(Fig. 60,10).
217
,-f
ro
r-1
::,
'"'
()
,.0
Ul
r-1
,..c::
u
c
Q)
'"'
I c
1i
iO
. r-1
'"'
r-1
o. ro
u
c
r-1 Q)
ro ,..c::
9
:J
0
,..c::.
.
.
I-< c
Q)
ro a,
u
z .,....,
ro
Q)
"Cl
;3: ro
Q)
r-1
Q)
> Q)
'"'
;3:
ro
c Ul
0 ,-f
.,-1 ro
13
12
<it,8
!7
i8
16
J5
C:.J
ao
CICJ
i9
~o
~~ ()
22.
,-f
25
24
. r-1
u '"'
::,
Q)
Ul ,.0
"Cl "Cl
c Q)
ro .
u
c ro
ro
'"'
,-f
.
p... c
0u
26
28
29
>,
'"' '"'
. ,..c::
Q)
Q)
Q)
.
O
Q)
u
,-f
0
0.
Q)
,..c::
E-i
::, c
r-1 '"'
'"'r-1
~ ~
'
lf)
219
218
.,,,,.,-,:r--~\
Table 12
Burials and Grave Goods from Mariupol Group I
(+ few finds;++
more than 10 finds)
Burial
No.
1
Age, condition,
single or group
2
Tools
3
Ornaments,
beads
r-1
c:::
c:::
N
N
.....
Cl)
Q)
I
H
::I
r-1
rl
>,
~
r-1
.;j
rl
c:::
c.,
.;j
c:::
rl
'd
,.0
><
rl
::I
Q)
Q)
r-1
H
rl
p.
r-1
rl
17
Adult
18
Adult
19
Adult?
20
Adult
21
See Below
22
Adult
23
Adult
24
See below
25
Adult
26-27 Adults
28
Adult
29
Adult
30
Adult
30a
Child
31
Adult
32
Adult
33
Adult
34-36 Adults, group
37-38 Adults
39
Adult
40-41 Adults
42
Adult
43
Adult
44
Adult
45
Adult, damaged
46
Adult
47
Adult
48b
Adult
49
Adult
so Adult & child
51
Adult
52
Adult
53
Adult
Q)
Cl)
<
p'.:I
10
11
23
1
2
1
4
1
9
1
1
1
2
Cl)
::I
,.0
H
0
Cl)
rl
Q)
Cl)
rl
p.
'd
Adult, damaged
Adult
Adults, paired
Adults, paired
Adult
Adult, damaged
Adult
Adult
Adult
Adult
Adult
00
Cl)
Q)
1-2
3
4-5
6-7
8
9-11
12
13
14
15
16
..c::
.
c:::
Q)
El
Cl)
Q)
rl
Q)
>
10
'd
Cl)
Q)
N
N
0
Other finds,
Comments
11
10
11
2
-
++
+
0/+
27
10
1
13
++
41
1
2
10
25
1
1
1
1
Bone awl
4
1
1
Bone plate
Shell, bone awl and plates
3
2
0/1
4
-
3
1
1
1
Two flakes
Shell
Two boar tusks
Mace, figurine,
++
30
40
11
++
++
16
27
4
5
+
+
++
++
0/+
Cyprinidae teeth
Flake
Flake, ground stone
11 Boar tusks
Mace, shell, flake
10
Boar tusk
Shells, boar tusk
Shell
20 flakes
flake, flint
borer
20
++
++
++
++
++
Bone awl
Core, flake
I-.~
._,,
.~
,__ .~:~~~:tf
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62-63
64
65
66
67
68-73
74
75
76
Child
Adult, sitting?
Adult
Adult, damaged
Adult
Adult
Adult
Adult
Adult
Adult
Child
Adult
Adult, damaged
Adults, damaged
Adult
Adult & child
Adult, damaged
77
Child
78-81 Adult, damaged
82
Adult
83
Adult
84
Adult
85
Adult & child
86
Adult
87
Adult
88
Adult
89
Adult
90-96 Adults, damaged
Adult
97
98-99 Adults, damaged
100
Adult
101
Child?
N
N
N
~ ..... -",,
!!!!!:::::~_,,.,._,
--
N
N
102
103
104
105
106
107-08
109
110
111
112-13
114
115-16
117-21
122
123
124
ui
!lili1
~ ~""":"'7'>'"-~-.-...,,-,~,.--~-;,tr*.,..,
10
11
22
28
35
Bone plates
++
++
++
4 Boar tusks
1
1
++
++
5/0
Two shells
10
++
Boar tusk
1
++
30
2
++
+/0
Boar tusk
Marble pendant,
++
++
0/+
Nacre plates
10
6
++
++
+
++
13
+
+
Shells
Facetted
Flake
10
11
1
18
++
30
+
++
++
+
++
4
6
+
+
++
0/+
1/+
11111111n11
murr
u I rnuur
Adult
Adult
Child
Adult
Adult
Adult & child
Adult & child
Adult, damaged
Adult
Adults
Adult
Adults
Adults, damaged
Adult
Adult
Adult
-~l.
3
1
1
~~':\::r.~
z~,~:::~~!.1:_~;~!
1~,.- .~ ~~:
annular
10
11
1/0
2/0
0/1
Mountain crystal,
Two annular
++
Porphyrite
+/0
Shell
1/0
+/0
+/0
+/0
++
bead (stone)
Boar tusk
Bone zoomorphic figurine
11II ff ' 1H II I t1
boar tusk
stone beads
pendant,
Fragments of flint
Cyprinidae tooth
ruu&rmr!J!!~
boar tusk
blades
Group II Burials
These belong
to the Novodanilovka-type
monuments of the Early
Eneolithic
in the Ukraine (Archaeology of the Ukr.SSR, v.1, 1975, 311320).
As mentioned above, they all occurred in separate pits and were
distinguished
from the burials in the main pit-trench
by burial ritual
and the composition of finds.
Two graves of this group (Nos. 21, 24)
were in the form of stone cists under cairns.
The decea,sed were in the
contracted supine position.
Three of the burials were accompanied with
copper ornaments such as bracelets
and beads (Fig. 60,27, 28). A stone
mace of a complicated 'three-lobed'shape
was found near burial No.24; a
flint
arrow point was near the cremated burial and the paired burial
No.21. Near the cremated burial,
outside the clump of burnt bones and
also in the fill
of burial No.24, there were found artifacts
of bone
and shells similar in type to those from the main pit-trench.
Among
them, there were Mariupol-type
plates,
flat or globular and segmentlike beads of nacre,
and individual
globular
beads of bone.
The
relation
of most of these finds to the second group burials
is not
quite clear.
It is probable that most of them, except for the nacre
beads found near burial
No.24, were introduced
into the pit fill
inadvertently
from the main pit-trench
in the process
of its
destruction.
Below we describe
the burials
a contracted
supine position
When the pit
for this
the main pit-trench
was partly
by a stone three-lobed
mace
plates and numbers of nacre
bead of copper.
in a stone
burial
was
destroyed.
(Fig. 2,9),
beads, two
The 'bracelet
burial'
was found in the layer of black soil at a depth
of 0.4 m. outside the main pit-trench
of the cemetery near burial No.
21 (45 cm to its south).
The deceased lay in the contracted
supine
position
with its head to the west.
There were found two copper
bracelets
and four copper beads (Fig. 60,27 ,28).
The composition of
finds in this burial is similar to burial No. 21.
224